Process Dominates at NTIA App Privacy Meeting

Representatives of consumer watchdog groups flipped the agenda at a government meeting designed to produce voluntary, consensus-based user privacy guidelines for mobile applications.

The meeting, held in Commerce Department headquarters, was supposed to deal with potential substance of a privacy policy, but a small group of consumer advocates led by Susan Grant of the Consumer Federation of America threatened a walkout if the meeting didn't turn first to issues of process, including whether there would be detailed briefings from industry on what sorts of data are being collected by mobile applications and how they are used. These briefings, the groups said, are a necessary precursor to any discussion of the substance of a privacy policy, even one that is voluntary and consensus-driven. Officials tried to keep the meeting on track, but, after a vote, the meeting pivoted to deal with issues of process -- the timing of the meetings, the location, whether agendas would be circulated in advance, whether the stakeholders would break into working groups, and whether those working groups would circulate drafts of their findings. In the end, the group voted on a number of process issues to guide the next meeting, set for August 29. Among the decisions, the group agreed that it was important not to veer too far from the agenda at subsequent gatherings.