"This is in its nascent stage, it will be going on for a long, long time," Robinson said. "Apple has lots more to do on this, if only because Congress is going to have hearings."

Franken's hearing, which is set to begin at , will also take testimony from officials with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, as well as from Justin Brookman, director of consumer privacy at the Center for Democracy & Technology.

In an interview Wednesday with Computerworld, Brookman applauded Apple's acknowledgement of the privacy problem and its promise to modify iOS, but questioned the company's flat denial that it never tracked users.

"I'm glad that they are fixing what they call bugs," Brookman said. "But I take exception with their strong denial that they track users."

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at or subscribe to . His e-mail address is .