Mobile-App Makers Face U.S. Privacy Investigation

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are investigating whether numerous smartphone applications illegally obtained or transmitted information about their users without proper disclosures, according to a person familiar with the matter.The criminal investigation is examining whether the app makers fully described to users the types of data they collected and why they needed the information — such as a user’s location or a unique identifier for the phone — the person familiar with the matter said. Collecting information about a user without proper notice or authorization could violate a federal computer-fraud law.To read this Wall Street Journal report in full, see:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576242923804770968.htmlAlso see:Pandora Discloses Privacy-Related U.S. Inquiry Into Phone Apps [AP]
The online radio service Pandora has received a subpoena from a federal grand jury investigating whether popular smartphone applications share information about their users with advertisers and other third parties.The company said on Monday that it believed that it was one of many companies to receive subpoenas in an investigation into the information-sharing practices of publishers that make apps for the iPhone and other Apple devices, as well as smartphones that run on Google’s Android operating system.
www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/technology/05pandora.html