Is your mobile privacy policy in order?
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If you think online advertising has brought about a privacy scare, be prepared for more concerns about mobile, where so much more user data can be collected about a user. A recent survey by TrustE found privacy is a top concern for smartphone users, and yet fewer than four in 10 respondents reported feeling in control of their phone's personal information.
The lesson here: Mobile app publishers are wise to put the right privacy protections in place before before they're compelled to.
Publishers looking for resources about how to get in front of mobile privacy concerns can turn to a new website from the Future Privacy Forum, a privacy think tank supported by industry and advocacy groups. ApplicationPrivacy.org serves as a hub for best practices for privacy, regulatory guidelines and platform and application store requirements ― “all of the relevant information an app developer might want,” said Jules Polonetsky, director and co-chair of the FPF, in a phone interview.
Polonetsky said app developers need to take ownership for responsible privacy practices. And yet, many app developers do not. A recent survey by the FPF found that 22 out of the 30 most popular mobile apps on leading mobile platforms lacked a basic privacy policy.
If developers do not offer privacy policies on their own, platforms like Apple and Google could take the reins. And we all know the last thing any publisher wants is to forfeit more data power to Apple.
“If app developers don't get it under control on their own, the platforms are going to do it for them, and I think we all prefer that everyone play their role in the ecosystem,” he said.
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