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The Federal Trade Commission has published a guide to help mobile application developers observe truth-in-advertising and basic privacy principles when marketing new mobile apps. The FTC’s new publication, “Marketing Your Mobile App: Get It Right from the Start,” notes that there are general guidelines that all app developers should consider.
- Tell the Truth About What Your App Can Do
- Disclose Key Information Clearly and Conspicuously
- Build Privacy Considerations in From the Start
- Offer Choices that are Easy to Find and Easy to Use
- Honor Your Privacy Promises
- Protect Kids’ Privacy
- Collect Sensitive Information Only with Consent
- Keep User Data Secure
FTC Publishes Guide to Help Mobile App Developers Observe Truth-in-Advertising, Privacy Principles New FTC publication for mobile app developers (FTC blog)
Like the GOP platform adopted last week during the party’s convention in Tampa, the Democrats’ plan pledges to take steps to shore up the nation’s cyberdefenses, to protect intellectual property, and to resist international attempts to impose new regulations on the Internet. But unlike the GOP plan, the Democratic platform again endorsed the idea of network neutrality, saying, “President Obama is strongly committed to protecting an open Internet that fosters investment, innovation, creativity, consumer choice, and free speech, unfettered by censorship or undue violations of privacy.”
Another area where the parties depart is on privacy. The Democratic platform backs Obama’s call for a consumer “Privacy Bill of Rights” and to offer consumers a chance to opt-out of Internet tracking. The administration’s privacy bill of rights, unveiled in February, calls on companies to do more to protect personal data by, for example, telling consumers about what data is being collected and how it is used. The administration called on Congress to codify its privacy proposals into legislation but the Democratic platform is silent on the issue. The GOP platform discusses the need to protect individual liberty from government intrusion. However, the Republican platform does not mention the need to enhance consumer privacy. The Democratic platform touted President Obama’s proposal to promote access to wireless broadband services. It notes that the administration has pledged to ensure that 98 percent of the country has access to wireless broadband service and is “finding new ways to free up wireless spectrum.”
Democrats Part with GOP on Network Neutrality, Online Privacy
The Democratic party platform sends the strongest signal yet that President Obama intends to issue an executive order demanding companies secure their computers against cyberattacks.
“Going forward, the president will continue to take executive action to strengthen and update our cyber defenses,” the plank states. While the Democratic proposal stands by the belief that a cyber mandate would be best at building security and privacy into public-private partnerships: “President Obama has supported comprehensive cybersecurity legislation that would help business and government protect against risks of cyber attacks while also safeguarding the privacy rights of our citizens.
Obama Campaign Plank Hints at Cyber Executive Order
Democrats used their party platform as an opportunity to tout transparency advances under the Obama administration such as the President’s Open Government Initiative and the government information trove Data.gov.
The platform praises Data.gov in particular for helping the private sector “pioneer innovative new services.” Technology officials have argued companies and nonprofits can build thriving industries from federal information related to energy, the environment and other topics similar to industries based on government-gathered weather and Global Positioning System data.
“We are committed to using government as a platform to spur innovation and collaboration,” the document states. The Democratic platform also touts the administration’s leadership role in the Open Government Partnership, an international coalition launched in 2011 to promote transparency. The platform states the party is “strongly committed to protecting an open Internet that fosters investment, innovation, creativity, consumer choice and free speech, unfettered by censorship or undue violations of privacy.”
DNC Touts Open Government Initiatives in party Platform
A group of US consumer and privacy groups urged the European Union to move forward on tough new privacy rules, saying stronger European protections will benefit US Internet users and others around the world.
"We support the EU General Data Protection Regulation and believe that it provides important new protections for the privacy and security of consumers. Moreover, we believe that the promotion of stronger privacy standards in Europe will benefit consumers around the globe, as businesses improve their privacy practices and security standards," nearly two dozen US groups said in a letter Wednesday to the European Parliament. They included the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Public Citizen. Earlier this year, the commission proposed changes to strengthen the European Union's 1995 data privacy directive. They include shifting the directive into a "regulation" that would be binding on EU states when it is finalized. Other changes include expanding the definition of what data is considered "personal information," requiring companies to offer consumers a "right to be forgotten" online, and authorizing privacy officials to impose bigger fines for privacy violations.
US Groups Urge EU to Resist Weakening Privacy Proposal
What are the most critical technology skills for students to learn? We recently asked our readers this question, and here’s what they had to say.
- Online literacy
- Critical thinking
- The science behind the technology
- Adaptability
- Courage
Five technology skills every student should learn
A federal judge has dismissed a privacy lawsuit by consumers against 17 tech companies on the grounds that the consumers' written complaint -- which is supposed to outline their allegations and legal theories -- is too unwieldy for them to proceed.
"The court is not sure who these voluminous screeds are addressed to," U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks in Austin (TX) wrote in an order throwing out the 343-page complaint. "Certainly, they are not written with an eye toward this court's busy docket. Perhaps, plaintiffs had the court of public opinion in mind when they drafted them." The lawsuit dates to March, when a group of consumers sued Path, Hipster, Twitter, Facebook and other tech companies for allegedly collecting or storing users' address books without their consent.
App Developers Win Round In Privacy Lawsuit
Service providers taking steps to solve expected mobile congestion problems at the Democratic National Convention this week are addressing issues that are likely to grow in many areas over the next few years.
Time Warner Cable said it has made its Wi-Fi hotspots in Charlotte, North Carolina, free to use while the convention is in town. AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel all have added cell sites, portable COWs (cells on wheels) and distributed antennas to handle the influx. More than 35,000 people are expected to come to the city for this week's convention. Time Warner has 90 Wi-Fi APs (access points) around the Charlotte area that were set up to provide wireless Internet access to its subscribers while away from home. Residents and visitors can also buy service. TWC also has about 120 APs throughout Time Warner Cable Arena, the main venue for the event. The company will make those hotspots available to convention-goers free from Aug. 27 through Sept. 10. The visitors, and anyone else in the area, will be able to get on the system without a username or password.
Time-Warner Cable, carriers roll out mobile red carpet for Democratic convention
Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte says his national broadband plan is "the rural electrification of the 21st century."
The Minister outlined a series of "ambitious" targets to be met within the lifetime of the Government. He said 70-100Mbps should be available to at least 50 percent of the population. At least 40Mbps should be available to at least a further 20 per cent of the population and a minimum of 30Mbps available to all. Rabbitte said Taoiseach Enda Kenny had given him a commitment the State would provide funding of €200 million along with matching investment from private companies. Rabbitte unveiled Delivering a Connected Society – A National Broadband Plan for Ireland in Croke Park on August 30. The plan is based broadly on the Report of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce, published last May. The taskforce’s membership included the chief executives of the six main telecoms service providers in Ireland. State aid clearance by the European Commission will almost certainly be required to guarantee public funds are not substituting for potential private sector investment.
Ireland unveils broadband plan
[Commentary] The honeymoon between President Barack Obama and the media is over.
I’ve been fascinated by the erosion of fourth-estate support for the president. The upstart from Illinois enjoyed kid-gloves treatment in 2008, like few other candidates in my memory. What worked four years ago won’t cut it today. Obama’s opponents are challenging the media to be more responsible and hard hitting. Summing up the view of conservative voters, a headline on the Washington Post Right Turn blog asked: “How will we know if the media dive back in the tank for Obama?” The implication there is the media were clearly in Obama’s corner the first time around — and that they could well be again.
How can the president win back the media? Here are five ideas:
- Have a thicker skin: When you do a Google search for “Obama thin skin,” multiple stories with the same theme appear. Whether the president has “rabbit ears,” as the blurb for a YouTube video claimed, perception can become reality.
- Appear in public with the ever-popular Michelle: The First Lady has emerged as a strong and calming influence whether she is speaking with journalists on official White House business or yukking it up on the ABC chat show “The View.”
- Be the anti-Mitt Romney: The media noted during the Republican convention that one of Mitt Romney’s biggest challenges is to show that he is a friend of working men and women and not just a rich capitalist. Obama was swept into office on a populist tidal wave, which reporters identified strongly with.
- Never let ‘em see you sweat, Mr. President: Obama, has occasionally seemed on edge this year — understandably, what with the state of the economy — and reporters have noticed.
- Lighten up: We have seen his hair go from black to gray, it’s understandable that he’s feeling stressed, but he needs to give the impression that he’s enjoying himself. He’s often at his best in lighthearted moments, when he’s giving his picks for the NCAA basketball tournament or shooting baskets with the likes of LeBron James.
How Obama can win back the media