Apple said Wednesday it will begin to require iPhone and iPad apps to seek "explicit approval" in separate user prompts before accessing users' address book data. Apple's move comes after two members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee requested the company to provide more information about its privacy policies. According to reports, some applications in Apple's App Store including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Foodspotting have been able to lift private address book data without user consent.

The legislators had asked Apple to submit its response by February 29.