Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Senator wants privacy policies for mobile apps

Franken calls on Google and Apple to require privacy policies for apps that use location information

A U.S. senator wants Apple and Google to require some applications in their mobile app stores to have privacy policies as a way to protect users against location tracking.

Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's privacy subcommittee, called on the two mobile OS makers to require privacy policies for "location-aware" apps in a letter sent to the CEOs of Apple and Google Wednesday. Neither company requires apps they sell to have privacy policies in place, he said in the letter.

"Apple and Google have each said time and again that they are committed to protecting users' privacy," Franken wrote. "This is an easy opportunity for your companies to put that commitment into action."

A recent study from TRUSTe and Harris Interactive found that less than 20 percent of the 340 top free apps available through mobile networks have links to privacy policies, Franken said.

Franken's letter follows hearings in Congress this month on location tracking on mobile phones. Apple and Google have sent mixed signals on what information they collect about users, Franken said in a May 10 hearing.

Other senators have called for a new privacy law to protect mobile customers.

"Requiring that each app in your stores have a clear, understandable privacy policy would not resolve most of the privacy concerns in the mobile market," Franken wrote. "But it would be a simple first step that would provide users, privacy advocates, and federal consumer protection authorities a minimum of information about what information an app will access and how that app will share that information with third parties."

Representatives of Google and Apple weren't immediately available for comment.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Apple, Google, Harris Interactive, IDG, TRUSTe
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Google, Apple, Truste, Harris Interactive, Telecommunication, mobile, government, Regulation, security, privacy, software, applications, Mobile operating systems, Al Franken
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Oracle Database 11g Product Family
    Oracle Database 11g is available in a variety of editions tailored to meet the business and IT needs of all organisations. This paper outlines the features and options available with each edition of Oracle Database 11g. Read on for more details.
    Learn more »
  • Endpoint Buyers Guide
    In this Endpoint Buyers Guide, we examine the top vendors according to market share and industry analysis: Kaspersky Lab, McAfee, Sophos, Symantec and Trend Micro. Each vendor’s solutions are evaluated according to: Product features and capabilities, Effectiveness, Performance, Usability, Data protection and Technical support.
    Learn more »
  • Get the Whole Picture Why Most Organizations Miss User Response Monitoring—and What to Do About It
    You can be armed with vast amounts of performance metrics, but if you don’t know what users are actually experiencing, you don’t have the real performance picture. While this measure is critical, it is one many organizations fail to consistently capture. This guide looks at the challenges of user response monitoring, and it shows how you can overcome these challenges and start to get a real handle on your infrastructure performance and how it impacts your users’ experience.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments