US Wants Apple, Google, and Microsoft To Get a Grip On Mobile Privacy

coondoggie writes "When it comes to relatively new technologies, few have been developing at the relentless pace of mobile. But with that development has come a serious threat to the security of personal information and privacy. The Federal Trade Commission has issued a report (PDF) on mobility issues and said less than one-third of Americans feel they are in control of their personal information on their mobile devices. 'The report makes recommendations for critical players in the mobile marketplace: mobile platforms (operating system providers, such as Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft), application (app) developers, advertising networks and analytics companies, and app developer trade associations. ... The report recommends that mobile platforms should: Provide just-in-time disclosures to consumers and obtain their affirmative express consent before allowing apps to access sensitive content like geolocation; Consider developing a one-stop “dashboard” approach to allow consumers to review the types of content accessed by the apps they have downloaded; Consider offering a Do Not Track (DNT) mechanism for smartphone users.'"

So we're ASKING them?

[GodfatherofSoul]

How about regulating them?

Re:Android already does this...Not quite...

[ozmanjusri]

Nah, it really doesn't do it in any meaningful way, and doesn't provide the level of fine grained control that is needed.

Stock Android doesn't, but apps like P-Droid allow you to take as much control of your own phone as you want to.

Re:Ahhh the good old days...

[Solandri]

For Android, LBE Privacy Guard will let you assign whether apps have access to the network, and various other private info (e.g. location, contacts, phone ID, etc).

That makes it trivial enough to block something like Angry Birds from getting my location and communicating it to their home server. The problem is with apps which have to be online and which need access to that info to function. e.g. Navigation with Google Maps requires network access and my location. I'd like to think providing navigation is all they're doing with my location info, but I suspect they're doing a lot more with it like building movement pattern profiles.

Re:Ahhh the good old days...

[Anonymous Coward]

LBE Privacy Guard bootloops on all new versions of Android... was great pre ICS, but the devs apparently are only making a Chinese version now.

Sad to see the only useful privacy tool for Android not usable with 4.1, but that's life.

Re:Ahhh the good old days...

[Frankie70]

Imagine if you could buy something like a SIM card that worked on all the networks in the United States, not just some, and all you had to do when getting a new phone is slide your SIM into it.

You can actually. It would work on any GSM network in the USA. Of course, you need to buy your phone from a Phone Vendor rather than a Service Provider.

That's what I did when I spent a few years in the USA. It used SIM cards from 4 different US Service Providers.

But Americans want subsidised phones so they don't do this.