FTC member: Do not track should apply to mobile apps

Federal Trade Commission member Julie Brill reiterated a push for stronger Internet privacy policies, including a controversial “do not track” requirement for all Web sites to adopt.

Commissioner Brill, who spoke at a panel at the American Center for Progress on proposed anti-tracking mechanism, said such a mechanism should extend to Internet access on mobile devices. Consumers, she said, should be able to block Web sites and marketers from following them on smartphones and tablets, where they are spending more of their online time. “Consumers should not be expected to make tracking choices on a company-by-company basis,” Commissioner Brill said . “This raises the issue ... of whether Do Not Track should be extended to the mobile environment. With so much information about consumers exchanged in that space, I believe the answer is yes.” Commissioner Brill cited a Future of Privacy Forum report that found that of the top 30 paid apps, 22 didn't have a basic privacy policy. She said the Web industry hasn't done a good enough job to inform users clearly and simply when data about them is being collected. And while the FTC has stepped up enforcement of privacy violations, those actions come after potential harms are made and consumers need better preventative measures to protect them.