Apple's latest update to iTunes adds a feature known as the MiniStore, which displays recommendations from the iTunes Music Store based on the song currently playing. However, to do this, iTunes transmits the artist and song title, along with the user's personal iTunes account number, activity that some regard as a privacy violation along the lines of spyware.

iTunes will stop relaying such information to Apple if the user turns off the MiniStore, but Apple does not alert users about the data transmission when they upgrade the software. The company also does not indicate through the software what it will do with the information.

Writing for MacCentral, Rob Griffiths expressed dismay over the situation before later clarifying his article to explain that Apple only uses the information to update the MiniStore before discarding it. However, he still thinks Apple should disclose what iTunes is doing with the MiniStore and how the company will handle personal data.

Those concerns were echoed at the blog BoingBoing, where some readers were able to confirm that iTunes is indeed transmitting information to Apple. They would like the MiniStore turned off by default; currently, it's turned on by default when the user upgrades to the new version of iTunes.