• This past week, Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Tex., co-chairs of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, released a discussion draft of online privacy legislation aimed at protecting children. Entitled the “Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011,” the bill would amend COPPA to modify provisions governing the use and disclosure of children’s personal information and would establish new protections for children and teens. The bill would require online companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is used and disclosed, and their policies for collection of personal information. It would also require online companies to obtain parental consent for collection of children’s personal information, and prohibit those companies from using personal information of children and teens for targeted marketing purposes. The legislation also proposes a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” that limits the collection of personal information, including location information for teens, and requires companies to permit users to eliminate publicly available personal information when technologically feasible. In preparing the draft legislation, the lawmakers inquired about the practices of companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and the four major wireless carriers regarding their data collection, storage, use and disclosure practices. The bill is available here.
  • On May 11, 2011, Symantec, an Internet security firm, made a blog post stating that nearly 100,000 Facebook applications accidentally have leaked access to users’ Facebook accounts to third parties, mainly advertisers, for several years. Symantec also stated that most application developers were unaware of their access to the personal information of Facebook users. Facebook has acknowledged the security issue, and has stated the company has taken steps to address the problem. It also noted that the Symantec report contains inaccuracies, and asserted that the leaks do not violate Facebook’s privacy policy. To read the blog post, click here.
  • At the May 10 Senate Privacy Subcommittee hearing reported above, Senator Franken and other Democrats expressed a need for Congress to pass legislation to protect the location information of wireless subscribers, expressing frustration with the practices of Apple and Google on an issue which some have called “locationgate”. Sen. Franken stated that “as I’ve started to look into these issues in greater depth, I’ve realized that our federal laws do far too little to protect this information. Prosecutors bringing cases under the federal anti-hacking law often rely on breaches of privacy policies to make their case. But many mobile apps don’t have privacy policies. And some policies are so long and complicated that they’re almost universally dismissed without being read.” Representatives of Apple and Google defended their companies’ handling of location information, and stressed the need to maintain an open environment to encourage the development of new apps. To read Sen. Franken’s full statement, click here.