Android's permissions gap: why has it fallen so far behind Apple's iOS?

No piece of technology knows as much about you as your smartphone. It goes where you do, so knows your movements, holds your contacts, your mesages, emails, web browsing records - and all the apps you use, perhaps including credit card details (suitably obfuscated to prevent casual theft). Given untrammelled access to someone's smartphone, you could find out almost everything about their life.

Smartphones are intensely personal (which is also why people can get so worked up if they think you're insulting their choice of smartphone; it's tantamount to insulting their personality). And when it comes to data, the events of the past six months - starting with the Guardian's revelations about NSA and GCHQ surveillance - have heightened peoples' awareness of the idea that it is their own data.

Senator Charles Schumer Asks FTC To Probe Apple, Android

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. senator has urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports that applications on the Apple Inc and Google Inc mobile systems steal private photos and contacts and post them online without consent.

Democrat Charles Schumer's request comes after iPhone maker Apple tweaked its privacy policies last month after prodding from other lawmakers.

The distribution of third-party applications on iPhones and phones running on Google's Android system has helped create a surge in the popularity of those devices in recent years.

However, Schumer said on Sunday that he was concerned about a New York Times report that iPhone and Android applications can access a user's private photo collection.

He also referred to a discovery last month that applications on devices such as the iPhone and iPad were able to upload entire address books with names, telephone numbers and email addresses to their own servers.