Apple Inc. recently made a change to its App Store rules to rein in developers' use of information about iPhone owners' friends and other contacts, Bloomberg News reported June 12.
The company's refreshed guidelines now keep developers from making databases of address book information they compile from iPhone users.
Sharing and selling that database with third parties is also no longer allowed.
The changes came amid reports that Facebook Inc. struck special data-sharing deals with certain advertisers and preferred partners that included some information about users' friends, such as phone numbers.