Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency: A Federal Trade Commission Staff Report

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) has worked on privacy issues for more than forty years, and in 2000 began considering the privacy implications raised by consumers’ growing use of mobile devices. Most recently, in May 2012, the FTC hosted a mobile privacy panel discussion that focused on transparency: With so many players collecting and using consumer data, who should provide privacy information to consumers? Given the limited screen space of mobile devices, how can this information be conveyed? Based on the Commission’s prior work in this area, the panel discussions, and the written submissions, this report offers several suggestions for the major participants in the mobile ecosystem as they work to improve mobile privacy disclosures.