FTC Releases Staff Report On Mobile Privacy

Richard Raysman is a Partner in our New York office

Beyond the obvious benefits of the latest generation of smartphones, mobile technology presents multiple privacy challenges. Mobile devices are almost always on, and nearby, and produce large amounts of data that might be shared among the many entities of the mobile ecosystem, including wireless carriers, mobile operating system providers, handset manufacturers, app developers, web analytics companies, and online ad networks. Moreover, it is more difficult to educate consumers about mobile data collection because the small size of mobile phone screens presents practical challenges in how to notify consumers about the extent of data collection and information sharing.

This past month, the FTC released a new staff report, Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency, that offers recommendations to a host of industry participants- platforms, app developers, ad networks and analytics companies, and app trade associations. The Report points out that if strong privacy codes are developed, the FTC will view adherence to such codes favorably in connection with its law enforcement work.

Mobile Platforms

The FTC noted that mobile platforms such as Apple are gatekeepers to the app marketplace and can improve mobile privacy disclosures, such as setting requirements for app developers and fine-tuning the interface in the app stores. Among other things, the agency recommends:

provide just-in-time disclosures to consumers and obtain their affirmative express consent before allowing apps to access sensitive content like geolocation or other content that consumers would find sensitive in certain contexts (e.g., contacts, photos, calendar entries, or recorded audio or video content) develop a one-stop "dashboard" approach to allow consumers to review the types of content accessed by their downloaded apps develop icons that would be displayed on the top edge of smartphone screens to depict the transmission of user data for a particular app The Report noted that some privacy practices may not be within the platforms' control. For example, although a platform would know what information the app is collecting through APIs, a platform would not necessarily know what information the app is collecting directly from consumers or what information the app is sharing with third parties. To remedy this situation, the Report suggests:

promoting app developer best practices regarding data collection...