Future of Privacy Forum Study Results Show App Developers Heed Call for Privacy Policies

Future of Privacy Forum and Center for Democracy & Technology Release Best Practices for Mobile App Developers

“Developers have access to tremendous amounts of very sensitive data about their customers,” said Justin Brookman, CDT’s Director of Consumer Privacy. “We’re offering these Best Practices guidelines to help well-meaning developers preserve user privacy without stifling the innovation and convenience offered by new platforms.”

Other findings from the new app privacy policy survey include:

• Overall, 61.3% of the 150 apps examined had a privacy policy when offered across three app store platforms: iOS App Store, Google Play and Kindle Fire Appstore.

• Similar to the findings from September 2011, the 75 free apps analyzed were more likely to have a privacy policy than the 75 paid apps.  69.3% of free apps and 53.3% of the paid apps had privacy policies.

• To determine whether consumers could review how an app would use their data before downloading the app, the study focused on whether an app provided access to privacy policy information in or from the app store. 22.7% of free apps and 20% of paid apps in Google Play and the iOS App Store have access to the privacy policy at the app store promotion page.

• 48% of free apps and 32% of paid apps on all platforms have access to the privacy policy in the app itself or via a link from within the app. If apps don’t provide access to a policy from the app, consumers are forced to search the Web to try to find the app’s policy.

• 12 out of the 50 apps surveyed on the iOS App Store platform requested precise location information and 10 of those 12 had privacy policies. 14 out of the 50 apps surveyed on the Google Play platform requested precise location information and 10 of the 14 had privacy policies.

The Co-Chairs of the Future of Privacy Forum credit the efforts by the California Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and increasingly, from app platforms for the improvement in privacy disclosures to consumers.

Jules Polonetsky, Director and Co-Chair of the Future of Privacy Forum said:

“App developers are starting to get the message that access to consumer data is a privilege not a right.  Taking the time to document data collection and use practices is the first step to showing that you are a responsible company. Although providing a privacy policy is no silver bullet, the process of documenting data use and making oneself legally accountable is a critical first step to building consumer trust.”

FPF Founder and Co-Chair Christopher Wolf added:

“Enforcement activity by the FTC and the California Attorney General, as well as the efforts of the platform providers, are driving the significant progress we have seen by app developers to do the needed work to put privacy policies in place. The Administration’s multi-stakeholder process focusing on apps and launching in Washington this week can build on this progress to further ensure that consumers understand what they are getting when they download an app.”

FPF provides resources for developers, including tools to create privacy policies, at applicationprivacy.org.

Research for this report was led by FPF Legal & Policy Fellow Lia Sheena, and assisted by interns Rachel Coffin and John Alford.

For any questions, or to schedule an interview, please email [email protected].