Niantic Responds To Senate Inquiry Into Pokemon Go Privacy (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via TechCrunch: Senator Al Franken has questioned Niantic, the makers of Pokemon Go, about how it handles user's information. He asked the company to explain several key details about how Pokemon Go works, including whether all the data collection was necessary, how data will be shared and how parental consent is obtained for kids who play the game. The game was under the spotlight soon after it launched when it was revealed that users had to provide the game full access and control over their Google accounts. Niantic general counsel Courtney Greene Power responded to Franken via a letter (PDF): "Country is collected and stored, to provide a user the appropriate experience; language may be stored in future updates, for the same purpose. The app collects certain information to facilitate important quality and stability objectives and to prevent abuse. This includes information such as mobile operating system, mobile device identifier, and hardware build information. This information is used to debug phone-specific game problems and to detect and deter cheating in the game. She went on to explain that players under 13 are redirected to the company's website when they register to play, where their parent must also register. Parents are then asked to verify their identity through third-party vendor, Veratad. "Niantic does not and has no plans to sell Pokemon Go user data -- aggregated, de-identified or otherwise -- to any third party," Power wrote. The company also adds that data is shared with mobile app analytics companies and with marketing and analysis companies, but these companies agreed to keep user data secure. The data shared with third parties does not include the data of users under 13, the company said, and no user data will be shared with investors. In response to the response, Sen. Franken said in a statement: "The launch of Pokemon Go earlier this summer represented a new era in gaming, but shortly after the app's release, there were strong concerns about how it treats its users' digital data. I appreciate Niantic's response, but I intend to work further with the company in the future to ensure that we're doing everything possible to protect the privacy of Americans -- particularly American children -- who play Pokemon Go."

Comments

Re:They don't give a sh*t about private property

[Anonymous Coward]

"they are sending players onto private property", No they are not. The Pokemon are spawning in "public areas" not private. I have many hundreds of spwan points mapped and none are on private property. They spawn on sidewalks, not back yards. Plus you can catch them from 5 meters away so, you are wrong on every assumption you have made.
Try to have the tiniest touch of real world data before going spittle throwing, mouth breather.

Re:He wrote a letter

[Oswald McWeany]

Niantic (which sounds like the name of a drug for erectile dysfunction, by the way)

It's the name of a town in Connecticut, as well as the Native American people for which it was named.

If they named an erectile dysfunction drug after them you'd expect them to be a more populous tribe.