Dec. 5 -Save the date! When is information personal? Does anonymization still matter? How is de-identified data being used and what are the benefits or risks? Please save Dec 5 for a series of panels and discussions about the “PII to Non-PII Spectrum” with leading experts at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Program details to be announced shortly. For information please contact [email protected]
FPF was in attendance at the hearing yesterday chaired by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), entitled, “Protecting Children’s Privacy in a Electronic World.” Members of the Subcommittee showed their overwhelming support for the FTC’s efforts to better protect children in their proposed revisions to COPPA. Rep. Bono Mack stated that FTC had hit the “sweet spot” on its rules and stressed the critical role that parents and the FTC have in “safeguarding the privacy of our children.”
In our previous blog post, we previously discussed that geolocation was added to the definition of personal information and requested the need for clarification regarding how this would affect app developers that do not collect any personal information from children. Mary Engle, the Associate Director for Advertising Practices of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the FTC, testified that geolocation was always covered by COPPA. She further stated that including persistent identifiers under the definition of personal information was intended to close the gaps to ensure that online behavioral advertising is not conducted on children. This still leaves us with questions regarding how the FTC plans on applying some of these revisions. Morgan Reed, Executive Director of The Association for Competitive Technology, urged the Committee to consider the difference between “sharing” and “collecting.” “Our concern is that a developer adding a social networking button such as a Facebook “Like” button would automatically be held in violation of COPPA, even though no direct information about the child is shared.” Other discussion revolved around whether the protections should go beyond the FTC’s revisions to include teens or whether teens could have the option of removing information about them via an “eraser” button, positions expressed by Dr. Kathryn Montgomery, director of the Ph.D. Program of American University’s School of Communication, and Alan Simpson, VP of Policy at Common Sense Media. See witness testimonies here.
We loved this article by Robert Ellis Smith, noted privacy expert and publisher, Privacy Journal, and republish it here with his permission. Privacy Journal offers our readers a beginning rate of $65 for the next year, a 50 percent discount. The newsletter is available in hard copy by U.S. mail or pdf by email. Please place your order at [email protected]
U.S. Protections Hard to See From Abroad
The British publication Privacy Laws & Business in its September issue published a chart showing 76 nations with federal data protection laws, listing a country “if it has a national law which provides, in relation to most aspects of the operation of the private sector, a set of basic data privacy principles, to a standard at least approximating the OECD [European] Guidelines, plus some methods of legislation-based enforcement (i.e. not only self-regulation).” The U.S., since 1974 has not subscribed to this methodology for protecting personal data by law; thus it was omitted from a list that includes Moldova, Chile, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Argentina, Turkey, and Russia. Here is a rebuttal by PRIVACY JOURNAL Publisher Robert Ellis Smith: (more…)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently revealed its proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). COPPA requires that operators of websites or online services notify parents and obtain their consent when collecting, using, or disclosing the personal information of children under the age of 13. FPF shares the FTC’s visions to protect children online and fully supports the Commission’s intention to revise the current rule in response to changing technologies.
Please see FPF Advisory Board member Neil M. Richards in “Privacy legal fights should focus on intrusion, not hurt feelings”, an article from Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom by Jessica Martin. Richards discusses how American privacy law was created in the 19th and 20th centuries and is an inadequate guide for 21st century privacy battles. Richards, JD, is a privacy law expert and professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
For the full article, click here.
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) participated in the State of the Net West conference on Tuesday of this week where she said prospects were bleak for any privacy legislation to make it through Congress this year. Even though online privacy tops Eshoo’s list of technological priorities, she believes it lands differently on Congress’ list. With debates centering on the national economy, jobs and the European economy, legislators most likely will not have the time to rewrite privacy legislation. However, the congresswoman did say she wants companies working to adopt transparent privacy policies that are user-friendly, including policies that protect children.
For the full article on the conference from Palo Alto Online, click here.
An extensive GSMA study of over 4,000 mobile phone users in Singapore, Spain, and the UK reveals that most users are concerned about sharing personal information when using mobile applications and Internet. Privacy concerns were shown to hinder user interaction with such apps and services, but research also illustrates the significant value users place this technology. Key areas of concern are location based services (LBS), online behavioral advertising, and mobile app and third party sharing of data.
With mobile apps, 92% of users expressed concern about apps collecting and sharing information without consent. 79% want to know when and what type of information is being collected.
“The research shows that to realise the full potential of mobile Internet services, it is imperative that ways are found to strengthen consumer confidence and trust by giving users meaningful transparency, choice and control over how their personal information is used,” said Tom Phillips, chief regulatory officer, GSMA. “The GSMA is committed to working with stakeholders from across the whole mobile ecosystem to help establish effective and consistent privacy experiences for mobile users, and to ensure that privacy is a key consideration of all mobile services.”
FPF also has an upcoming study in the area of mobile user expectation as part of our Design for Trust project, an effort let by design firm CreativeContext and supported by Yahoo, Visa and others. We look forward to sharing details soon.Read more about the GSMA study here.
Future of Privacy Forum Co-chairs Jules Polonetsky and Chris Wolf presented today along with other industry leaders at the Mobile Marketing Association Webinar: Privacy Fundamentals for Mobile–What You Need to Know To Successfully Navigate the Landscape. Chris Wolf discussed the risks associated with poor mobile privacy practices such as the WSJ’s “What They Know” series that has served as a roadmap for congressional hearings. Fran Maier, President and Executive Chair of TRUSTe reported survey results revealing that 85% of users are interested in being able to make choices regarding targeted mobile ads. Jules Polonetsky affirmed these findings and stressed the importance of providing users with privacy controls such as a user-friendly opt-in or opt-out choice on their mobile devices. Among the topics discussed were concerns with collection and use of precise location data for behavioral advertising, children’s privacy, and media and advocate concerns around the use of device identifiers for tracking. If you have any mobile privacy questions, feel free to comment below or email us at [email protected].
Gaithersburg, MD – September 22, 2011 – NIST Cybersecurity Education Workshop – The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) today announced “Why Your Browser Matters,” a framework for websites to create “teachable moments” for site visitors, raising awareness of the security, privacy, and performance risks of using outdated browsers. According to comScore data and OTA research, over 40% of users worldwide are using outdated browsers, and fail to realize the advantages of upgrading.https://otalliance.org/news/releases/WhyYourBrowserMatters.html