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Senator Al Franken gets answers regarding CarrierIQ, still not satisfied
It's been two weeks since the CarrierIQ story caught the eye of Senator Al Franken, who swiftly put his fist down and began demanding answers from the companies that admitted to allowing the tracking software on their handsets, as well as CarrierIQ itself. The deadline for the companies to respond is over for all but two -- T-Mobile and Motorola were both given until December 20th -- and the good Senator's had the chance to look over their questionnaires. Here's what Sen. Franken had to say about what he read: I appreciate the responses I received, but I'm still very troubled by what's going on... People have a fundamental right to control their private information. After reading the companies' responses, I'm still concerned that this right is not being respected. The average user of any device equipped with Carrier IQ software has no way of knowing that this software is running, what information it is getting, and who it is giving it to -- and that's a problem. It appears that Carrier IQ has been receiving the contents of a number of text messages -- even though they had told the public that they did not. I'm also bothered by the software's ability to capture the contents of our online searches-even when users wish to encrypt them. So there are still many questions to be answered here and things that need to be fixed. Kind of makes you wonder exactly how each company answered the Senator's questions, right? Wonder no longer, our curious friends -- the responses in their fullness can be found on Senator Franken's website, linked below. In addition, tune in tomorrow when we'll dive into the responses in-depth. There's one question that we still want answered, though: what will each company do about the matter, now that it's caught public scrutiny? Our bet is on "not much."
Senator Al Franken asks iOS developers to provide "clear and understandable privacy policies"
Following up on requests he made to Apple and Google in his hearing on mobile privacy earlier this month, US Senator Al Franken wrote a letter to the companies' respective CEOs asking them to require all software sold through the App Store and Android App Market to provide consumers with "clear and understandable privacy policies." Franken conceded that most customers never read the legal notices packaged with apps or think to look for a privacy statement for each (or any) app they install. He added that privacy notices alone wouldn't address all of the senator's privacy concerns. Even so, he observed that Apple and Google are market leaders capable of taking this "simple first step towards protecting [their] users' privacy." Requiring each app to transparently disclose what information it collects, how the data is used and who it is shared with would help attentive consumers, privacy advocates and federal authorities better understand how mobile software accesses and uses personal information. The senator concluded by urging Apple and Google to, at a minimum, make privacy policies a strict requirement for all location aware applications, implying it would be more feasible to address his privacy concerns within a subset of all software offered through Apple and Google's app catalogs. After all, Franken's hearings followed a highly publicized bug in iOS that caused location data to be stored in an unencrypted file on the device. Apple fixed the bug in a recent software update. Finally, Franken reminded Apple and Google of their commitments to protecting the privacy of their customers. "Apple and Google have each said time and again that they are committed to protecting users' privacy," Franken wrote. "This is an easy opportunity for your companies to put that commitment into action." [via The Loop]
Apple's Bud Tribble will testify before Senate committee, says Franken
In the ongoing commotion around location, privacy and what your iPhone knows about what you did last summer, the witness list for upcoming Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearings on mobile privacy has been announced. Senator Al Franken's (D-MN) office told The Loop that Apple's VP of software technology, Guy L. "Bud" Tribble, will be there, along with regulators, privacy advocates and Google's VP of public policy. Franken invited the companies to send representatives to his hearing a couple of weeks ago, as the location issues were making news. Tribble has been on the hot seat before when it comes to Congressional oversight of digital privacy; he appeared at a similar hearing last summer, alongside Facebook's CTO and Google's lead privacy engineer. He's also one of the longest-serving Apple and NeXT veterans, and is credited with identifying the legendary Reality Distortion Field power of Steve Jobs. Perhaps he should borrow the field generator for his testimony. The hearings will begin on May 10 at 10 am Eastern time. If you're watching on C-SPAN, keep an eye on the senators as Tribble enters the room... the ones that recoil and run away are almost certainly Klingons.
Apple, Google to testify at Congressional hearing on location tracking
Senator Al Franken released a statement today thanking Apple and Google for agreeing to attend a hearing on mobile technology and privacy. According to Franken, the goal of the hearing is to "serve as a first step in investigating if federal law protecting consumer privacy-particularly when it relates to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets-is keeping pace with advances in technology." The hearing is set for May 10 in Washington, D.C. and has the catchy title "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy." We'll keep you posted on the result of that hearing and we'll reach out to Sen. Franken for comment after they conclude. Full press release below. Show full PR text Sen. Franken Thanks Google, Apple for Agreeing to Appear at Hearing on Mobile Technology & Privacy Thursday, April 28, 2011 Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, thanked Apple and Google for agreeing to send representatives to testify at the May 10th hearing on mobile technology and privacy. They will be joining officials from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission; Ashkan Soltani, independent privacy researcher and consultant; and Justin Brookman, Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Project on Consumer Privacy. "I'm pleased that Apple and Google have confirmed that they'll be sending representatives to testify at my upcoming hearing on mobile technology and privacy," said Sen. Franken. "This hearing will serve as a first step in investigating if federal law protecting consumer privacy-particularly when it relates to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets-is keeping pace with advances in technology. Each of the witnesses at the hearing will play a critical role in helping us better understand this complex issue and I look forward to hearing from them." Sen. Franken's hearing, called "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy," is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10th at 10:00 a.m. in 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Protecting Minnesotans' and Americans' consumer rights and privacy has been a priority for Sen. Franken since he came to the Senate. Last week, he sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking him to address privacy concerns about the company's iOS 4 operating system, which security researchers have said secretly stores detailed information about users' locations on their iPhones, iPads, and any computers to which the devices are synched, generally in an unencrypted format. Since then, Apple, Inc. has announced that it will update its iOS 4 operating system to address several of the issues raised in Sen. Franken's letter. Last year, Sen. Franken pressed Attorney General Holder to incorporate an analysis of geotags-information about a person's location that is embedded in photos and videos taken with GPS-equipped smartphones-into an updated stalking victimization study connected to the National Crime Victimization Survey. This March, Sen. Franken also led several of his Senate colleagues in urging Facebook to stop plans that would have permitted third party application providers to access users' home addresses and phone numbers. Earlier this month, he asked the U.S. Department of Justice to clarify its interpretation of a critical federal law that protects personal data after a security breach at Epsilon Data Management and allegations that several popular smartphone applications were gathering and disclosing users' private information without their knowledge or consent.
