Late last week, Dun & Bradstreet Creditability Corp. and its related entities settled a class action lawsuit. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that Dun & Bradstreet violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by using an automatic dialing system to call cellular phones without prior express consent of the plaintiffs. As part of the

The Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”), a self-regulatory group that represents marketing and media organizations, released new guidance this week for advertisers in the mobile space. Entitled “Application of Self-Regulatory Principles to the Mobile Environment,” the guidance builds on well-known principles such as notice (or transparency) and choice (or control), and tailors them to the unique challenges that face the mobile environment.
Continue Reading Mobile in the Spotlight with Digital Advertising Alliance Guidance

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released updated guidelines (PDF) for regulating unfair and deceptive trade practices in online marketing. The “.Com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising,” were released in 2000, before the meteoric rise of social media marketing and the advent of smartphone advertising. As the evolution of these two areas has drastically changed the way brands communicate with consumers and blurred lines between corporate and word of mouth advertising, the FTC saw a need to extend these guidelines to cover all online, social and mobile marketing.
Continue Reading FTC Revises Guidelines for Online Advertising

FTC Chairman Leibowitz has followed though on his commitment to finalize the new COPPA rule by the end of the year. Earlier today, at a press conference, the Chairman, alongside Senator Jay Rockefeller, announced the agency’s update to the rule. The new rule expands the application of the rule to new categories of “personal information”

Apparently, a lot of people want to know, according to the Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Jeff Chester, Executive Director of the Center for Digital Democracy. To learn more why, read our Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog covering the latest complaint filed against a mobile game-maker for alleged COPPA violations.
Continue Reading Do you know where your children are?

One is hard-pressed to think of something more important than protecting the privacy of our children. Front and center in this debate is how such privacy concerns need to be addressed in mobile platforms like smartphones. As the saying goes, “There’s an app for that”, and such is certainly true in offerings directed to children. The Federal Trade Commission has now issued its second staff report on the privacy practices of mobile apps for children, “Mobile Apps for Kids: Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade.”
Continue Reading Children’s Privacy in Mobile Apps Continues to be atop FTC’s List of Concerns

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce held its latest meeting with privacy stakeholders November 30, to discuss privacy best practices for the mobile environment. We have previously blogged about some of these earlier meetings on our sister blog from our Global Regulatory Enforcement Group.

This latest meeting once again joined members of the app developer industry with members of consumer advocate and privacy groups, along with other stakeholders from government, academia, and the private sector. Discussion focused on the latest draft of the Mobile Application Transparency Code of Conduct. Some of the issues considered in this latest draft are…
Continue Reading Privacy Stakeholders Meet Again Over Mobile Privacy Best Practices

On September 5, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission published “Marketing Your Mobile App: Get It Right from the Start”, a set of guides addressing compliance with truth in lending and privacy principles for mobile app developers. Disclosures and privacy protection for mobile apps is a major issue and the FTC’s guidance is important. In their summary, the FTC provided an overview that advised that app developers:

Tell the Truth About What Your App Can Do
Disclose Key Information Clearly and Conspicuously
Build Privacy Considerations in From the Start
Offer Choices that are Easy to Find and Easy to Use
Honor Your Privacy Promises
Protect Kids’ Privacy
Collect Sensitive Information Only with Consent
Keep User Data Secure

Pretty basic stuff, but the reminders from the FTC are well taken and should be carefully digested by anyone in the mobile app business, whether they’re developers or marketers. For a copy of the full publication, click here.
Continue Reading FTC Issues Guidance to Mobile App Developers