When we introduced Clueful for Android, we thought mobile users should know what the applications on their devices were doing. One year and a couple hundred thousand analyzed applications later, Clueful intelligence has picked up an interesting trend: applications are equally invasive and curious on iOS as on Android, even though one may argue that one of the operating systems is safer.
Privacy is a good thing in the digital world - you'll get no argument from me. I don't like my data floating around in cyberspace without my consent, but I also realize that much of what makes the internet (and computing generally) so great is that I can use my own judgment to decide who I will and will not trust with my information.
Things like app permissions, which have been a part of the Android package installation process for quite some time, are nice, but let's face it: 95% of us don't read them. And if we do, we may not even be sure what those permissions really entail, or how the app will use those permissions to gather information, or even what kind of information will actually be collected.
California's Attorney General decided he didn't like this, particularly after the whole Path debacle on iOS. So, he got Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and other mobile app providers together for a round-table discussion on the privacy of personal information gathered by apps. The end result of that meeting-of-the-minds was this agreement. The parts of importance to pull out are the following:
PrivacyStar, maker of the smartphone application that enables users to take control of their mobile phone, announced 2011 user trends showing significant growth in complaint filing to the Federal Trade Commission. PrivacyStar has nearly one million users who use the feature packed application to ensure privacy on their smartphones blocking over 125 million numbers and filing over 200,000 complaints to date. In 2011, users filed 137,000 complaints to the Federal Trade Commission with substantial increase in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act complaints filed.
Privacy is a good thing in the digital world - you'll get no argument from me. I don't like my data floating around in cyberspace without my consent, but I also realize that much of what makes the internet (and computing generally) so great is that I can use my own judgment to decide who I will and will not trust with my information.
