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California Sues Delta Air Lines Over Mobile Privacy
New submitter mrheckman writes "California is suing Delta Air Lines for violation of California's on-line privacy law. Delta failed to 'conspicuously post a privacy policy within their mobile app that informs users of what personally identifiable information is being collected and what will be done with it' after a 30-day notice. Delta's app collects 'substantial personally identifiable information such as a user's full name, telephone number, email address, frequent flyer account number and pin code, photographs, and geo-location.' Why is it we still can't control what permissions an app has on our phones? It's absurd and disturbing that an app for checking flights and baggage demands all of those permissions."
You install or do not install.
You're thinking of the jungle
In a civilized society, there are laws that may actually protect consumers. This lawsuit is a demonstration of that
They should at least make it easy for you to figure out what they collect and what they may do with this information - and they have not.
Aside from the photos, I can think of a logical reason for each of the other permissions listed.
Name is needed for check-in and boarding pass creation.
Delta will send flight updates via text message, for which a phone number is required. Ditto for email.
Frequent flyer number and PIN code are used to access your Delta account.
Geolocation so it knows which airport you're in.
They should disclose what information they collect as required by law, but the assertion that these permissions are "absurd and disturbing" is ludicrous and obviously the opinion of someone who does not travel often, or is uninterested in utilizing technology tools when they do.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
That is one advantage to using a BlackBerry: you can pick which permissions you want an app to have.