The European Union is trying to determine how best to protect children from app developers who target them through "Freemium" business models. According to Wikipedia, Freemium is a pricing strategy by which a product or service (typically a digital offering such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, however, money is required for advanced features, functionality, or virtual goods.
European consumer protection officials are focusing their inquiry on Apple and Google because of their strong market position in the app ecosystem. According to the EU, the 4 main issues that need to be addressed include: 1) Games advertised as “free” should not mislead consumers about the true costs involved; 2) Games should not contain direct exhortations to children to buy items in a game or to persuade an adult to buy items for them; 3) Consumers should be adequately informed about the payment arrangements and purchases should not be debited through default settings without consumers’ explicit consent; 4) Traders should provide an email address so that consumers can contact them in case of queries or complaints.
In a press release regarding this matter, Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner stated, "Misleading consumers is clearly the wrong business model and also goes against the spirit of EU rules on consumer protection. The European Commission will expect very concrete answers from the app industry to the concerns raised by citizens and national consumer organizations."
Earlier this year, Apple agreed to an FTC settlement and promised to pay at least $32.5 million dollars to settle a complaint that alleged proper parental permission was not always obtained when children made app purchases on its platform. This was another warning shot to the app ecosystem that it must do a better job of protecting children and families
The bottom line is that regulators around the world are ramping up their investigations and enforcement actions against companies that target children online. Therefore, corporate best practices should ensure that children's interests are protected when interacting with them on digital platforms.
Copyright 2014 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Digital Media Lawyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Digital Media Lawyer. Show all posts
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Do Not Track Kids Act of 2013 Would Amend COPPA
Senator Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Barton have reintroduced House and Senate versions of their Do Not Track Kids Act,
which would extend the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) protections for "collection, use
and disclosure of children's personal information" to teenagers 13-15.
The legislation would: prohibit Internet companies from collecting personal and location information from anyone under 13 without parental consent and anyone 13 to 15 years old without the user's consent; require consent of the parent or teen prior to behavioral advertising to children and teens; establish a "Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens" that limits the collection of personal information of teens, including geo-location information of children and teens; create an "eraser button" for parents and children by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate publicly available personal content when technologically feasible; and require digital companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is utilized, and the policies for collection of personal information.
While I am not generally in favor of stricter regulations on the digital ecosystem that may potentially put greater constraints on how Internet companies may operate, the data collection and privacy policies of some companies have crossed the line and appear to require greater legal scrutiny. According to a recent USA Today article about digital privacy and young people, "....the NSA can tap into online data to the extent it does largely because commercial companies, led by Google and Facebook, pursue business models that treat consumer privacy as a free profit-making resource."
The bottom line is that some companies have abused their marketplace position and it appears that a legislative fix is needed to protect our children from companies that put profits ahead of privacy.
Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
The legislation would: prohibit Internet companies from collecting personal and location information from anyone under 13 without parental consent and anyone 13 to 15 years old without the user's consent; require consent of the parent or teen prior to behavioral advertising to children and teens; establish a "Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens" that limits the collection of personal information of teens, including geo-location information of children and teens; create an "eraser button" for parents and children by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate publicly available personal content when technologically feasible; and require digital companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is utilized, and the policies for collection of personal information.
While I am not generally in favor of stricter regulations on the digital ecosystem that may potentially put greater constraints on how Internet companies may operate, the data collection and privacy policies of some companies have crossed the line and appear to require greater legal scrutiny. According to a recent USA Today article about digital privacy and young people, "....the NSA can tap into online data to the extent it does largely because commercial companies, led by Google and Facebook, pursue business models that treat consumer privacy as a free profit-making resource."
The bottom line is that some companies have abused their marketplace position and it appears that a legislative fix is needed to protect our children from companies that put profits ahead of privacy.
Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
Friday, February 1, 2013
FTC: More Mobile Apps Privacy Disclosures Required
The FTC recently released its “Mobile Privacy Disclosure: Building Trust Through Transparency” staff report.
The theme of the report is that mobile platform operating system
providers (Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft), app
developers, ad networks, and analytic companies need to provide
consumers with timely, easy-to-understand disclosures about the data
that is collected about them and how the data is utilized.
It appears to build on the September 2012 report “Marketing Your Mobile App: Get it Right From the Start”. Some of the recommendations in the September 2012 report include: build privacy considerations in from the start, honor your privacy promises, collect sensitive information only with consent, and keep user data secure.
Some members of the app ecosystem appear to have taken the FTC’s September 2012 report very seriously and anticipated that the FTC would soon crack down on companies that may not be following the FTC’s prior digital privacy recommendations. Before the FTC’s new Mobile Privacy Disclosure staff report was released, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft teamed up to create a new initiative to educate app developers about digital privacy. The program is called ACT 4 Apps and it plans to create an environment where app developers may interact with privacy experts to learn how to abide by state and federal privacy laws.
The announcement that the FTC has fined social networking app Path $800,000 for alleged privacy violations along with this new staff report continues to demonstrates that the FTC is spending considerable resources on digital privacy issues. When the FTC announced last August that Google agreed to pay a $22.5 million dollar fine for misrepresenting to users of Apple’s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking “cookies” or serve targeted ads to those users that should have been a wake up call to the digital industry that their business practices may be more heavily scrutinized. December’s announcement that the FTC adopted final amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) to strengthen kids’ privacy protections should have been recognized as a signal by the digital industry that it must become more proactive in protecting the personal data of its users.
This newly released staff 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 providing just-in-time disclosures and obtain affirmative express consent for other content that consumers would find sensitive in many contexts; consider developing a one-stop “dashboard” approach to allow consumers to review the types of content accessed by the apps they have downloaded; consider developing icons to depict the transmission of user data; promote app developer best practices; consider providing consumers with clear disclosures about the extent to which platforms review apps prior to making them available for download in the app stores, and conduct compliance checks after the apps have been placed in the app stores; and consider offering a Do Not Track (DNT) mechanism for mobile phone users.
App developers should: have a privacy policy and make sure it is easily accessible; provide just-in-time disclosures and obtain affirmative express consent before collecting and sharing sensitive information; improve coordination and communication with ad networks and other third parties that provide services for apps so the app developers can better understand the software they are using and, in turn, provide accurate disclosures to consumers; and consider participating in self-regulatory programs, trade associations, and industry organizations.
This staff report states that advertising networks and other third parties should: communicate with app developers so that the developers can provide truthful disclosures to consumers; and work with platforms to ensure effective implementation of DNT for mobile platforms.
The overall theme of this staff report is that the mobile apps industry must do a better job of communicating to its users what data is being collected and how it is being utilized. If mobile apps stakeholders do not move in a timely manner to implement the recommendations in this report more regulation may be required to protect the personal privacy of consumers. The bottom line is that the FTC may closely monitor how stakeholders react to its recommendations to determine if more regulation may be required to protect the digital privacy of users.
While mobile apps offer some great benefits and exciting new ways to interact with others, there are tremendous privacy issues that need to be addressed. Mobile ecosystem gatekeepers and app developers need to work with regulators and lawmakers to protect the personal privacy of mobile app users and to ensure that the industry does not become over-regulated.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at http://shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
It appears to build on the September 2012 report “Marketing Your Mobile App: Get it Right From the Start”. Some of the recommendations in the September 2012 report include: build privacy considerations in from the start, honor your privacy promises, collect sensitive information only with consent, and keep user data secure.
Some members of the app ecosystem appear to have taken the FTC’s September 2012 report very seriously and anticipated that the FTC would soon crack down on companies that may not be following the FTC’s prior digital privacy recommendations. Before the FTC’s new Mobile Privacy Disclosure staff report was released, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft teamed up to create a new initiative to educate app developers about digital privacy. The program is called ACT 4 Apps and it plans to create an environment where app developers may interact with privacy experts to learn how to abide by state and federal privacy laws.
The announcement that the FTC has fined social networking app Path $800,000 for alleged privacy violations along with this new staff report continues to demonstrates that the FTC is spending considerable resources on digital privacy issues. When the FTC announced last August that Google agreed to pay a $22.5 million dollar fine for misrepresenting to users of Apple’s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking “cookies” or serve targeted ads to those users that should have been a wake up call to the digital industry that their business practices may be more heavily scrutinized. December’s announcement that the FTC adopted final amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) to strengthen kids’ privacy protections should have been recognized as a signal by the digital industry that it must become more proactive in protecting the personal data of its users.
This newly released staff 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 providing just-in-time disclosures and obtain affirmative express consent for other content that consumers would find sensitive in many contexts; consider developing a one-stop “dashboard” approach to allow consumers to review the types of content accessed by the apps they have downloaded; consider developing icons to depict the transmission of user data; promote app developer best practices; consider providing consumers with clear disclosures about the extent to which platforms review apps prior to making them available for download in the app stores, and conduct compliance checks after the apps have been placed in the app stores; and consider offering a Do Not Track (DNT) mechanism for mobile phone users.
App developers should: have a privacy policy and make sure it is easily accessible; provide just-in-time disclosures and obtain affirmative express consent before collecting and sharing sensitive information; improve coordination and communication with ad networks and other third parties that provide services for apps so the app developers can better understand the software they are using and, in turn, provide accurate disclosures to consumers; and consider participating in self-regulatory programs, trade associations, and industry organizations.
This staff report states that advertising networks and other third parties should: communicate with app developers so that the developers can provide truthful disclosures to consumers; and work with platforms to ensure effective implementation of DNT for mobile platforms.
The overall theme of this staff report is that the mobile apps industry must do a better job of communicating to its users what data is being collected and how it is being utilized. If mobile apps stakeholders do not move in a timely manner to implement the recommendations in this report more regulation may be required to protect the personal privacy of consumers. The bottom line is that the FTC may closely monitor how stakeholders react to its recommendations to determine if more regulation may be required to protect the digital privacy of users.
While mobile apps offer some great benefits and exciting new ways to interact with others, there are tremendous privacy issues that need to be addressed. Mobile ecosystem gatekeepers and app developers need to work with regulators and lawmakers to protect the personal privacy of mobile app users and to ensure that the industry does not become over-regulated.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at http://shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Is Russia trying to censor the Internet?
According to the New York Times, Russian lawmakers have approved legislation that would strengthen its ability to control its citizens' Internet activity. The bill will impose hefty fines for unsanctioned protests and it has reinstituted criminal charges for slander. According to Alla Zabrovskaya, public relations director of Google Russia, the proposed law may also enable the government to blacklist whole domains when only part of the hosted content is illegal.
The bottom line is that while social media was created to encourage interaction and collaboration with people from around the world, there are still some institutions that are afraid of what may happen if too many people speak with each other and voice their opinions.
Copyright 2012 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
The bottom line is that while social media was created to encourage interaction and collaboration with people from around the world, there are still some institutions that are afraid of what may happen if too many people speak with each other and voice their opinions.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)