Privacy is a big thing nowadays. A lot of companies are ramping up their security (Facebook?) and it looks like Apple isn’t going to stay out of it. Reports are coming out that they are planning to detail a new tracking tool for mobile developers that would protect privacy of iOS users better than current tools. The Wall Street Journal first revealed details on Friday and the new tool is supposed to be better than “existing approaches,” the report said. Apple first announced last year that they were planning to deprecate developers’ application access to users’ devices “uniqueIdentifier,” the unique serial number embedded in each iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The UDID acts like a networked computer’s MAC address, and stays the same no matter what software the device is running. Many companies rely on this UDID for location and preference data in their applications, but many have also expressed concern about the data risks involved with them.

The specifics on how Apple’s will work is still “unclear,” Friday’s report said. The report also said that the person cited stated that the new identifier is “expected to rely on a sequence of numbers not tied to a specific device.” News of this tool comes just days before Apple’s WWDC kicks on in California. There Apple is also expected to unveil iOS 6, the next major iteration of their operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

What do you think? Glad Apple may be looking into better security for it’s users? Does this concern you about past practices? Let us know in the comments.

Via: WSJ