As if the iTunes Mini Store scandal weren’t bad enough, we’ve got to prep for the Dashboard Widget scandal. Ugh.
Apple released Mac OS X 10.4.7 last week, and ever since I installed it, I’ve been noticing Apple’s own modest home phoning behavior. In this case it’s ostensibly to provide users with the opportunity to check whether the Dashboard Widgets you download are identical to ones featured on Apple’s site.
It sounds fairly innocuous, but it attempts to connect to two URLs:
http://www.apple.com/widgets/widgetadvisory
http://www.apple.com/widgets/parser.info
Supposedly nothing is being sent back to Apple, but in theory they could build a catalog of IP addresses. Is there anything to fear here? I seriously doubt it, but I’m sure the pundits will have something to say about it. I’m just trying to brace myself.
Little Snitch