California Strengthens Mobile App User Privacy

Enhanced Mobile Privacy Protections Announced by California Attorney General

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has unveiled new initiatives designed to bolster privacy safeguards for individuals utilizing internet-based applications on their mobile devices. This agreement establishes commitments from prominent mobile application providers to ensure consumer privacy on a worldwide scale.

Concerns Regarding Data Collection

The announcement follows reports indicating that application developers have been accessing and retaining personal contact information from smartphones and other mobile devices without obtaining clear, affirmative consent from users.

Ms. Harris successfully negotiated an agreement with six major technology companies – Amazon, Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Research In Motion – to create and implement transparent privacy policies for applications that gather personal data. The official press release highlighted that "The majority of mobile apps sold today do not contain a privacy policy."

Challenges with Existing Privacy Policies

A significant issue is the widespread tendency for users to forgo reading the privacy policies offered by websites and applications. Furthermore, the complex legal language often employed in these policies renders them unclear and difficult for the average person to comprehend.

Consequently, many consumers consent to mobile application license agreements without a complete understanding of the data being collected from their devices.

California's Constitutional Privacy Rights

Attorney General Harris emphasized that California’s constitution enshrines robust privacy protections. She stated that, "Forging this common statement of mobile privacy principles shows the power of collaboration — among government, industry and consumers — to create solutions to problems no one group can tackle alone."

This collaborative effort aims to address privacy concerns in the mobile app ecosystem effectively.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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