Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are reportedly investigating whether various smartphone applications are illegally obtaining and transmitting data from users without their consent or knowledge. In the US it is a violation of federal computer fraud laws for companies to collect information about a user without notice or authorization.
The prosecutors are investigating whether various apps on smartphones such as the iPhone and various Android phones are not notifying users what data is being collected and why such data is required by the app. This data being collected ranges from a users location to the unique identification data for that device and even personal information. The Wall Street Journal tested 101 apps and discovered that 56 of those transmitted the unique identification number for the device without letting users know, 47 transmitted the phones location and 5 sent a users age, gender and other personal information. Worryingly 45 of the apps tested did not have any privacy policy either in the app or on their website.
Legal experts contacted by the Wall Street Journal say that the investigation is serious and significant because it could potentially lead to criminal charges being laid on several companies. Also interesting about this investigation is that previous federal probes on online companies for privacy violations have been few and far between. Wall Street Journal says that they have been informed by a source that the investigation stretches all the way to the app stores run by Apple and Google who have been asked to provide to the investigation information about various apps and their developers.
The federal law in questions is the ‘Computer Fraud and Abuse Act’ that was legislated to enable prosecutors to more easily target hackers. In this investigation it could be used to claim that the developers of certain apps “hacked” into a users mobile phones to consolidate information from a user. Law professor at George Washington University, Orin Kerr, said “This is a big hammer if the government chooses to use it.” Legal experts said to the Wall Street Journal that such companies rarely end up getting charged with a criminal offence, often instead facing a civil case or companies offering promises and concessions to wiggle free from such investigation.
The popular online music service Pandora acknowledged that it faced a federal grand jury in relation to the investigation of “information-sharing practices by smartphone applications.” It claimed that they were not the target of the investigation but that similar subpoenas for investigations had been sent out on an “industry-wide basis.” Pandora, which transmits information about the users age, gender, location and unique identification number for the phone to advertising networks, is currently facing a civil class-action suite (along with Apple and other app developers) for transmitting such information without obtaining the users consent.
[Via The Wall Street Journal]
