The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) today filed its suggestion with the NTIA that a first area that the Multi-Stakeholder Process should address is mobile device applications. In February, the White House announced a privacy initiative through which enforceable industry codes of conduct would emerge from a Multi-Stakeholder Process, and it requested input from interested [...]

WASHINGTON – Today, the White House announced that 9 new utilities have committed to adopting the industry-led Green Button Initiative, joining 6 previously announced commitments, for a total of 27 million homes committed. The statement below can be attributed to Jules Polonetsky, Director and Co-Chair of the Future of Privacy Forum. “Offering consumers access to [...]

Statement from Future of Privacy Forum Director Jules Polonetsky: “We commend California Attorney General Kamala Harris and her staff for reaching this agreement among the major application platforms. Apps can only provide innovative services to consumers if they use personal information responsibly.  If apps surprise consumers by grabbing information that isn’t needed or by surprising [...]

FPF submitted comments to the FTC on proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. FPF commends the FTC’s commitment to protect the privacy of children in a rapidly developing online marketplace. FPF’s comments focus on amendments affecting those areas that correspond with the organization’s specific expertise and experience, namely: (I) The proposal to [...]

“We weren’t surprised to discover that free apps were doing better than paid apps, because free apps are more likely to be dependent on advertising and tracking and have more to disclose than paid apps,” explained Polonetsky. “Although a privacy policy isn’t the final word when it comes to communicating with consumers about how their data is used, companies providing policies show that they have taken an essential step to document their practices and provide legal accountability for their actions,” he added.

“With resources for app developers like our resource site, applicationprivacy.org, and privacy policy generators provided by TRUSTe and PrivacyChoice.org, there is no excuse anymore for app developers not to provide consumers with privacy policies,” said FPF Co-Chairman Christopher Wolf.[...]