Franken Bill Would Protect Consumers Location Data 90
GovTechGuy writes "Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) unveiled a new bill on Wednesday that would require firms like Apple and Google to obtain consent from consumers before collecting or sharing their smartphone location data with third parties. The bill would cover all mobile devices including tablets and require firms to inform consumers when they collect their data and allow them to delete it when requested."
Um.... (Score:0, Informative)
The iPhone already requires user consent before apps can use location data. It's awesome when government tries to design software.
Not sure why they mention Google... (Score:3, Informative)
Location sharing in Android is already opt-in, with a per-app or per-website granularity.
Re:eula (Score:5, Informative)
You missed the second part. You can tell them to delete your location information, and they'd be compelled by law to do so. That would definetly be different.
Re:Govt.? (Score:5, Informative)
That's covered under a different bill.
http://franken.senate.gov/files/docs/110614_The_Location_Privacy_Protection_Act_of_2011_One_pager.pdf
Re:Not sure why they mention Google... (Score:4, Informative)
About Al (Score:5, Informative)
Not to threadjack, but if we're talking about Sen. Franken...
Al Franken reads the 4th Amendment to a justice department official defending the PATRIOT act:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A8A7hsDOAw [youtube.com]
Al Franken's recent vote on extending the Patriot Act (from Project VoteSmart)
02/15/2011 Extension of Various Patriot Act Provisions HR 514 Y Bill Passed - Senate
That Y means Yea.
??
Re:define "collecting" (Score:2, Informative)
Cache comes from the Latin cogere. To collect. A cache is a collection.
The modern (bastardized by the French) usage of a cache adds "hidden" to the meaning.
Apple storing location data in a specific location it knows about and consumers don't (or don't have access to / full control over) is both collecting it and hiding it.
They may not be retrieving that information, nor may they have any intent to do so.
But they are collecting it.
Re:Great idea! (Score:0, Informative)
Re:About Al (Score:2, Informative)
that he voted quid for some pro quo elsewhere. That's how representative government works. It'd gridlock otherwise
Which means votes can be bought. Either thru favors, the buddy system, or just not bothering to read the bill and looking to what the 'leaders' are doing ("lets pass this and see what we get").
That is what you get. Vote buying. To the highest bidder. Do not tolerate it from your representatives even when you did/didnt vote for them.