Page 136 – Future of Privacy Forum

Senate Commerce Testimony on Privacy and Self-Regulation

On June 28, Ohio State law professor and FPF Senior Fellow Peter Swire testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on “The Need for Privacy Protections: Is Industry Self-Regulation Adequate?” Other witnesses were: Alex Fowler, Global Privacy and Policy Leader for Mozilla; Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the Association of National Advertisers; and Berin Szoka of TechFreedom.

Swire’s testimony highlighted four points:

The threat of government regulation spurs the adoption of self-regulation.
The history of self-regulation after the 1990’s shows that self-regulation declined when the credible threat of government action eroded.
The current wave of attention to online privacy has produced progress on Do Not Track, but with broad exceptions to the announced collection limits. In connection with this point, the testimony announced that counsel for the Digital Advertising Alliance has stated that the DAA is now open to concrete discussion about how to further improve the market research and product development exceptions for Do Not Track.
We should focus more attention on technical and administrative measures for de-identification in online privacy. In connection with this topic, Professor Swire will be working with Jules Polonetsky and FPF on a de-identification project this year.

For Swire’s testimony, click here. For full video of the hearing, click here.

Swire has also been invited to testify on July 31 about “State of Federal Privacy and Data Security Law: Lagging Behind the Times?” The testimony will be before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.

July 23, 2012 – 5% of Free Apps Use Ads That Can Take Over Your Phone and Pilfer Your Contact Info: Study Read, Mobile & Apps

It appears the saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”, which warns us that things which appear to be free usually come with strings attached, can now be applied to free apps as well; in 5% of those apps at least, and the number is rising according to a recent study by Lookout, a mobile security firm.

July 23, 2012 – California Gets Privacy Enforcement Unit, Information Week

California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Friday announced the formation of a new privacy enforcement unit in the state’s Department of Justice to defend individual privacy rights.

July 17, 2012 – Mobile App Companies Posting More Privacy Policies, Corporate Counsel

As U.S. regulators and lawmakers push to see more privacy policies take hold in the mobile apps space, it appears app developers (and their lawyers) are taking note.

July 16, 2012 – App Developers Improve At Creating, Adhering to Privacy Policies, Marketing Vox

App developers are behaving themselves by creating and adhering to privacy policies according to a survey released Friday by the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF).

July 15, 2012 – The State Of Mobile App Privacy Policies, TechCrunch

The Washington, D.C.-based think tank Future of Privacy Forum (“FPF”) released a study this week detailing the current state of mobile app privacy policies as of this past month, June 2012.

July 13, 2012 – Privacy Groups Promote More Secure Mobile Apps, Nextgov

The Future of Privacy Forum and the Center for Democracy and Technology this week released a set of best practices that mobile application developers can use to protect users’ privacy.

July 13, 2012 – 7 steps to building privacy into a health app, Government Health IT

A report published Wednesday by the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) takes stock of many popular mobile apps, documenting which of them provide consumers with a privacy policy describing their data collection and usage.

July 12, 2012 – Administration Privacy Approach To Get First Test, Nextgov

When the Obama administration in February rolled out its approach to protecting consumer privacy online, it put as much emphasis on industry self-regulation as it did on its call for legislation to provide consumers with privacy protections.