Mac OS X “Phones Home” Without Permission

According to a Mac developer, Apple’s Mac OS X has something else in common with Windows: It contacts Apple servers without the user’s permission.

Apparently, Apple included this “feature” in the Mac OS X update which was released on June 27. If you are running this update, your computer is contacting Apple’s servers 3 times a day, probably without your knowledge, to make sure your “dashboard widgets are up-to-date.” I guess that is critical or something.

The developer used an application called “Little Snitch” to figure out how this “feature” works. He found out it is managed by a new service named “dashboardadvisoryd.” “The problem is this feature popped up without my permission, and there’s no obvious way for me to turn it off,” said the developer.

Microsoft has recently been blasted by critics for its phone-home feature within the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) software. It got so hot for Microsoft that the company was forced to remove this “feature” in a recent update.

Microsoft is currently facing lawsuits over this “privacy” violation and it is possible that Apple could face the same.

Apple was not immediately available for comment.