Dana Liebelson reports:
Lately, fitness-minded Americans have started wearing sporty wrist-band devices that track tons of data: Weight, mile splits, steps taken per day, sleep quality, sexual activity, calories burned—sometimes, even GPS location. People use this data to keep track of their health, and are able send the information to various websites and apps. But this sensitive, personal data could end up in the hands of corporations looking to target these users with advertising, get credit ratings, or determine insurance rates. In other words, that device could start spying on you—and the Federal Trade Commission is worried.
“Health data from [a woman’s] connected device, may be collected and then sold to data brokers and other companies she does not know exist,” Jessica Rich, director of the Bureau for Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, said in a speech on Tuesday for Data Privacy Day.
Read more on Mother Jones.
Related to the issue of apps and privacy: IAPP has posted an interesting chart allowing you to compare the guidelines for mobile apps offered by different agencies or organizations: California Attorney General’s Mobile Privacy Guide, the Article 29 Opinion on Apps, the Future of Privacy Forum – CDT Best Practices guidelines, the NAI Mobile Code, the GSMA Mobile Privacy Principles, the NTIA Short Form Notice, and the FTC Mobile Privacy Disclosures. See how the guidelines agree or differ on issues such as data collection, data retention, choice and consent, and other issues here.