3 FTC case decisions in the past three months will greatly affect mobile app developers and compaies.
- Emily Apps: The FTC announced its settlement in August 2011 with W3 Innovations for collecting children's personal information without parental consent. Per the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, companies cannot collect online personal information of children under 13.
- AcneApp: The FTC accounced its settlement in September 2011 with the marketer of AcneApp and AcnePwner for deceptively claiming their apps would treat acne without substantiation.
- Frostwire: The FTC announced its settlement in October 2011 with Frostwire for unlawfully creating a peer-to-peer application that would publicly share personal files stored on a user's mobile device immediately upon installation. This sharing would occur without authorization and violate privacy acts.
I think that all three of these decisions by the FTC are commendable and necessary. Too often the government institutions are considered to be too lax (certain environmental specifications) or overly meddlesome (foie gras ban: seriously? tax payers' moneys were going towards hours of hearings/legal documentation/meetings about whether one should be allowed to sell liver?), but in this case they are spot on. With the changes in technological innovation improving exponentially, the limits are boundless as to what mobile apps will do for us next. Its extremely important that the correct foundations and guidelines are provided - ie, that children are protected, companies cannot falsely claim product results, and privacy is strictly enforced.
My only one dissenting opinon would be in regards to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act: the act only protects those children under 13; this means that children in highschool and middle school are not protected?? Should this age limit be at least 16, possibly 18?
source: http://mashable.com/2011/10/21/apps-ftc-settlements/
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