geolocation

Among the numerous federal privacy and data security bills that have been introduced in Congress over the last four months, Senator Franken’s “Location Privacy Protection Act” (S. 1223) focuses specifically on the collection of geolocation data by covered entities through mobile devices.  The bill would prohibit entities that offer or provide services to certain mobile devices from collecting and…

In light of the number of privacy and data security-related bills currently being considered by Congress, we thought it might be helpful to provide a roundup of the legislation introduced or circulated to date:

Comprehensive privacy legislation:

  • BEST PRACTICES Act, H.R. 611 (Rep. Rush): introduced Feb. 10, 2011.  Referred to the House Subcommittee on

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Representatives Edward Markey and Joe Barton recently introduced the “Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011,” which would expand and modernize the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and also would introduce new privacy protections for all minors under 18.  

COPPA currently prohibits operators of websites and online services from knowingly collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13 years of age without parental consent.  The Do Not Track Kids Act would, among other changes, expand COPPA to cover online and mobile applications and to protect unique device identifiers such as IP addresses.

Separately, the bill would establish new privacy rules to protect minors under 18.  If enacted, the bill would prohibit the use of personal information for targeted marketing to minors, require express consent from parents or teens prior to the collection of geolocation information, require operators to provide a means to delete personal information shared publicly by minors, and require covered entities to implement a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” that would be influenced by the Federal Trade Commission.

After the jump is a summary of the bill’s key provisions.Continue Reading Markey and Barton Introduce “Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011”

Although concerns about locational privacy are hardly new, recent developments suggest that policymakers and government officials are taking a close look at the privacy issues raised when geolocation data is collected via smartphones.

  • The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal grand jury in New Jersey is probing the data collection practices of smartphone applications.  According

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