The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently released their Mobile User Privacy Bill of Rights, so I gave it a read.
While I applaud EFF for going ahead and putting that document together, there are certain parts that are good and some that simply won’t work at all; the "rights" that I don’t believe will work will be the ones I concentrate on.
Focused data collection
This ‘right’ is written on the assumption that app developers actually care about an end user’s privacy. Programmers by and large aren’t hippies and care about money more than a cleansed soul. Wherever there is a chance for a developer to make a boatload of cash by sacrificing a user’s privacy, he or she will do it all the time, every time; that’s not going to change.
Transparency
This word is a joke in the mobile industry because most if not all apps only tell you things on a need-to-know basis. Devs will not suddenly grow a heart and explain everything the app does up front because they’d rather go for the quick kill and make the cash. Yes, this is another instance where the green (the bad kind) rules supreme again.
Accountability
This one is way, way too vague. For example, if a dev creates an app and it runs like total crap on one smartphone but great on another – and both phones run the same OS using the exact same version number – is that the dev’s fault? Of course not.
Anyway, read over the rights for yourself. Which do you agree and disagree with? The one I personally agree with most is 5 (Security). I totally believe that app developers do need to take a more active role in making sure their apps handle sensitive data securely out of the gate (instead of "Oops! Sorry we leaked your info, here’s a patch!" style).
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