FTC: App developers, stores should take new privacy steps

App developers should make their privacy policies available in app stores, the report recommends

Mobile app developers should provide real-time disclosures to users on the personal information they collect and get permission to collect sensitive information, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has recommended.

Mobile app developers should also make their privacy policies easily accessible through app stores and improve their coordination with advertising networks, analytics firms and other third parties that provide services for apps so that the developers can better understand the software used by the third parties and provide accurate privacy information to users, the FTC said in a series of recommendations on mobile privacy released Friday.

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He called the FTC's recommendation that all mobile apps have privacy polices a "sensible step."

The FTC guidelines are an "appropriate contribution from the FTC to the rapidly evolving mobile apps market," added Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, an e-commerce trade group. "Innovators are addressing these recommendations by developing new ways for consumers to control their privacy," he said by email.A "We hope that lawmakers won't be too eager to transform these helpful recommendations into stifling regulations."

The FTC recommendations come less than a month after California Attorney General Kamala Harris' office released its own set of guidelines on mobile privacy.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.