During the first quarter of 2013, for the first time, worldwide sales of smartphones topped sales of traditional feature mobile phones. Of the approximately 419 million mobile phones sold during the quarter, more than 216 million were smartphones. Given that the average smartphone contains 41 apps, the mobile app business is vast (an estimated $25 billion global industry) and continues to expand, with Apple having announced last month that it sold its 50 billionth app. But with the ubiquity of mobile apps comes privacy concerns. Indeed, given the Federal Trade Commission’s recent staff reports and enforcement actions on mobile privacy, the agency has clearly highlighted mobile privacy as the next important consumer privacy frontier.
This article will discuss mobile privacy and data collection in general, FTC staff reports and guidelines on mobile privacy, as well as recent FTC enforcement actions against app developers and proposed legislation that attempts to tackle mobile privacy.
