Privacy Crackdown on Mobile Devices

The Attorney General of California, Kamala D. Harris, has issued warnings to dozens of mobile application developers who have allegedly violated the state’s privacy laws. Security experts view this move as good for the industry. The Attorney General’s office notified businesses in the first week of November, citing them for not having easily accessible privacy policies, as required by the state’s Online Privacy Protection Act. These warnings may affect as many as 100 existing apps.”We have worked hard to ensure that app developers are aware of their legal obligations to respect the privacy of Californians, but it is critical that we take all necessary steps to enforce California’s privacy laws,” Harris said in a written statement. Companies she notified have 30 days to fix the issue; besides being easily visible, privacy policies must also inform users what personal information is gathered and how it is used. Anyone not in compliance in 30 days will face fines of $2,500 for each downloaded app. California leads the U.S. on protecting consumer privacy; mobile security experts and vendors are pleased with the Attorney General’s decision, saying it will increase consumer confidence.Since mobile phones and smart phones are also used for work, the California law also gives some protection to employers, against employees uploading and downloading information without their employers’ knowledge or consent. Recent studies have demonstrated that a lot of smartphone game developers partner with advertisers to gather personal information without consent. An especially pressing use for Android users, as anyone call sell games and other apps at the Google store; Mac apps are all sold and controlled by Apple.Included in the business warned by the Attorney General were United Continental and Delta, and restaurant reservation scheduler OpenTable. Of these, only United responded to requests for comment, by confirming it had received the warning. United spokeswoman Mary Clark said in an email to Bloomberg Business Report, “We are taking all steps necessary and appropriate to ensure compliance with California law as it relates to our mobile app.”Privacy is a major problem for consumers who enjoy their mobile applications. A recent study by Juniper Networks, of Google Play’s 1.7 million apps discovered that free apps were four times more likely than paid apps to track the user’s location, three times more likely to access address books, and two-and-a-half times more likely to access the device camera. An expert in computer forensics at Pace University, Darren Hayes, had this to say: “Smartphones are in my opinion the greatest threat to loss of intellectual property and concern about privacy. There are mobile apps that are masked as legitimate games which compromise other data on your phone. More aggressive privacy laws may mitigate some of the risk.”Contact Mike Agruss Law, at 888-572-0176 if you have any questions regarding privacy laws.