A new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would require mobile developers and providers to request access from a user before collecting and sharing his or her information and location data. They would also have to delete such information upon a user's request. The bill, introduced by Sens. Al Franken and Richard Blumenthal, and called the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011, also imposes hefty penalties unlike earlier bills introduced this legislative session.
A separate bill, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and called the GPS Act (for Geolocational Surveillance and Privacy), would prevent companies and law enforcement from using geolocation data without following the legal guidelines set out in the bill. (via Adweek).
These are the first bills to target mobile privacy, according to Politico. If recent events in Washington are any guide, though, they are not likely to be the last.
Pending in Congress
There are several related bills pending in Congress and the subject of mobile and online tracking is proving to be a winner with constituents.
"Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property" Act, or PROTECT IP Act, was placed on the Senate Legislative calendar last month. Under this bill the government would be able to shut down websites deemed pirate websites, or "dedicated to infringing activities" without having to go through the process of a court order or trial or other legal process. The Justice Department could seize domain names and then block payment processors and ad networks from working with the site. It would also have the power to require search engines to delete the results from their listings.
A bill much closer to the finish line is the one proposed earlier this year by Senators John Kerry and John McCain that would create a privacy bill of rights. Called the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, the measure would require companies that gather personal data to either offer people access to data they have about them, or give them the ability to block the information from being used or distributed. Furthermore, companies would have to ask permission before collecting and sharing "sensitive" information, such as religious, medical and financial data with third parties.
While it wasn't as harsh as some in the industry feared, the bill holds several areas of concern for online advertising companies and brands. It does limit the use and retention of personal consumer information for commercial uses, after all, and the industry will have to make some serious adjustments to comply with this rule.
Just as bad, in some eyes, the bill is viewed as giving too much discretion to the Federal Trade Commission in drafting and implementing rules. Another bill that carries significant weight in Congress is one proposed by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). It would create a "universal legal obligation" for companies to honor users' opt-out requests on the Internet and mobile devices. It also further empowers the FTC, this time giving it the ability to take action against companies that don’t comply.
The industry had an inkling of the extend of the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011, thanks to a hearing chaired by Franken earlier this year.
