Apple may finally relent on DND; talks with Trai soon

After being at loggerheads with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for not allowing the 'Do Not Disturb' (DND) pesky call complaint app on iPhones, Apple has now written to the telecom regulator to discuss and resolve the issue.

"They (Apple) have written to us for a meeting on the issue saying that they have an approach on this which they want to discuss," Trai chairman R S Sharma said on Thursday in response to query on the matter at the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi.

Apple has so far denied access to iPhone call logs and SMS inbox for the application developed by Trai. Sharma had expressed strong displeasure on this, while Apple cited security concerns.

Apple had denied permission for the DND app as it requires users to share information such as location, contacts, call logs, SMSs, etc, which is against the firm's privacy policy. Trai had launched the DND app in May, which crowd-sources information to identify telemarketers.

Now a meeting between Trai and Apple on the issue is expected next month.

Sharma had earlier told The Financial Express, ''We need to decide who owns the data. Also, can the custodian of this data stop the owner from sharing his or her data with others? The main point which we want to discuss is the ownership of data and who has the final right on a user's data.''