Several Popular Mobile Apps Access Users' Private Data Without Consent

Many popular mobile applications access users' private information without their permission, a potentially dangerous trend for businesses whose employees store company data on their personal smartphones and tablets.

According to a recent New York Times report, well-known mobile apps like Twitter and Foursquare collect information from users' personal address books, but some programs access this data without the knowledge or consent of the device owner.

"What separates malicious use from legitimate use is the element of surprise. If a user is surprised, that’s a problem," Kevin Mahaffey of Lookout Mobile Security told the news outlet. "It's a new industry and it's still in many ways the Wild West out there. The iron is still hot."

Mahaffey added that standards and restrictions regarding the collection of mobile users' private data are still largely undeveloped.

According to the report, several applications have recently slipped through Apple's highly-regarded approval process and accessed smartphone users' information without their permission, a breach of the company's rules for software developers.

Securing data on mobile devices has become increasingly important for enterprises due to many employees now storing company data and completing business tasks on their smartphones and tablets. According to a Citrix survey, 57 percent of IT managers are concerned about employees using personal devices to access company resources.