The US government has released a set of proposals on Friday, July 26th, which if implemented, would require app developers to tell users what data they gather and how they use it. This set of proposals was first highlighted by TNW, which reported that: “The US government’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration today issued its first draft of what will be a mobile apps code of conduct intended to better protect consumers and their privacy. If made final, policy states that publishers must provide consumers with “short-form” notices in multiple languages informing them of how their data is being used […]
Just so that there’s no doubt about what “data” means, the government entity specifically says it includes biometrics, browser history, phone or text log, contacts, financial info, health, medical, or therapy info, location, and user files …”
However, when it comes to the effectiveness of the proposal, there are a lot of doubts if the new regulations would prove to be helpful for people. Critics have also pointed out that the government took a year to formulate the proposals. It may take them even longer to work through all the objections and problems before they can prepare a final version to be implemented into law.
On top of it, even if government successfully implement this law, it does not force or compel app developers to obey it because this process will be voluntary. So it would not be hard for anyone to figure out that the newly introduced set of proposals from the US government are just a formality and there implementation will do no good to people.
The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling was the one who had issued the statement “on the multistakeholder process to develop the first privacy code of conduct aimed at improving disclosures on mobile devices,” according the official press release. Below is the statement, which describes their efforts:
“NTIA is pleased that today a diverse group of stakeholders reached a seminal milestone in the efforts to enhance consumer privacy on mobile devices. We encourage all the companies that participated in the discussion to move forward to test the code with their consumers. I want to congratulate all of the participants, who through their commitment and dedication have demonstrated the promise and importance of the multistakeholder policy-making process.”
Source: 9to5Google, NTIA
Photo: DigitalTrends
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