If you missed it last October, California Attorney General Kamala
Harris sent threatening letters to approximately 100 mobile app
developers who were not in compliance with California privacy laws.
These laws require that apps which record consumer information disclose
to the end-user exactly what information is being recorded, how that
information is used, and whom it is being shared with.
Generally speaking, the Attorney General’s main concern about mobile
products stems from their use on small screen – specifically, a lengthy
disclosure would amount to a large wall of text that very few users
would actually read in their race for the accept button to actually use
the application.
On January 10, the Attorney General gave some clarification on how
mobile developers can bring their products in line with these
requirements. The Attorney General recommends that mobile developers
give users access to this privacy information in the form of pop-ups or
icons. Specifically, she wants something more conspicuous than a wall of
text.
If you have a mobile application that a single user in California
takes advantage of and you do not have conspicuous disclosure of how you use any
information you collect from users, you are in violation of California law. And we recommend you work quickly and diligently to correct that error and bring yourself into compliance with the law.
The Attorney General has already filed the first lawsuit for
violating this law against Delta Airlines for their mobile app “Fly
Delta,” which the Attorney General claims has lacked a conspicuous
privacy policy since 2010.
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