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Franken Bill Would Protect Consumers Location Data

GovTechGuy writes "Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) unveiled a new bill on Wednesday that would require firms like Apple and Google to obtain consent from consumers before collecting or sharing their smartphone location data with third parties. The bill would cover all mobile devices including tablets and require firms to inform consumers when they collect their data and allow them to delete it when requested."

9 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Govt.? by Joehonkie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does "third parties" include the government?

    1. Re:Govt.? by Jabrwock · · Score: 4, Informative
      No. The bill explicitly states that it does not affect collection of data by law enforcement, or transfer of location data to law enforcement.

      That's covered under a different bill.

      http://franken.senate.gov/files/docs/110614_The_Location_Privacy_Protection_Act_of_2011_One_pager.pdf

      --
      Magic doesn't work in my presence. My power of disbelief is too strong.
  2. Re:eula by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Informative

    You missed the second part. You can tell them to delete your location information, and they'd be compelled by law to do so. That would definetly be different.

  3. Re:EULA by lrobert98 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Perhaps. But at least they'll have to explicitly state that they're collecting the data and also tell you how they're sharing it. They'll also have to give you a way to delete your data. It's a big step in the right direction.

  4. FrankenBill by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do not expose it to fire. "It's Alive!"

  5. define "collecting" by Frequency+Domain · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apple had the data on the device and included it in a readable format in backups to your sync machine, but they weren't "collecting" it in any meaningful sense of the word. The info wasn't being sent back to Apple or to third parties without consent, it was used as a cache to speed local operations. Is caching now considered collecting?

  6. Re:Not sure why they mention Google... by lrobert98 · · Score: 4, Informative
  7. About Al by JBMcB · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not to threadjack, but if we're talking about Sen. Franken...

    Al Franken reads the 4th Amendment to a justice department official defending the PATRIOT act:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A8A7hsDOAw

    Al Franken's recent vote on extending the Patriot Act (from Project VoteSmart)

    02/15/2011 Extension of Various Patriot Act Provisions HR 514 Y Bill Passed - Senate

    That Y means Yea.

    ??

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  8. Re:Not sure why they mention Google... by blair1q · · Score: 4, Funny

    If by "opt-in" you mean "opt-in or this app won't work even though it's not obvious at all why a game involving flinging birds at pigs would require such a thing..."