Sen. Charles Schumer

Well-known foe of fun and fan of probes Senator Charles Schumer has asked the Federal Trade Commission (F.T.C.) to examine claims Apple and Android can spy on your application data. The Senator's request was made public Sunday. In it he referenced recent reports that certain smart phone and tablet applications can look at user photos and upload contacts to Apple and Google servers.

As reported by Reuters, the Senator's letter to the F.T.C.  stated that the app functions in question "go well beyond what a reasonable user understands himself to be consenting to when he allows an app to access data on the phone for purposes of the app's functionality."

Mr. Schumer also pointed out that the companies may be violating their own terms of service in allowing applications such easy access to private data. Apple and Google, the Senator wrote, "should be required to put in place safety measures to ensure third party applications are not able to violate a user's personal privacy by stealing photographs or data that the user did not consciously decide to make public."

It is still unclear as to whether this counts as another item in the Observer's recent rundown of "fun" things Sen. Schumer has "tried to destroy."