Protecting Consumer Privacy in a Mobile World

Privacy laws are ever evolving. In fact, there are several conversations taking place in Congress right now surrounding how to increase online privacy for individuals in the U.S. One of the biggest drivers of this heightened awareness on privacy issues is Facebook and the attention it has received from consumers who are unhappy with its ever-changing approach to protecting their privacy and exploiting their information.  The company is certainly pushing the envelope on how privacy is handled.

There are a number of people who are not satisfied with existing United States privacy laws and believe that they do not go far enough.  They argue that our laws are far less advanced than those in other parts of the world, including Europe and Asia, and believe that many companies have simply found ways around what few requirements exist today.

The industry is moving towards making sure that personal identifiable information (PII) such as your age, phone number and address, is protected and that any use of it is known to the end user and is only done with their consent.  However, there are questions about what constitutes PII in general.

Five or ten years ago, this seemed like an obvious concept: phone numbers, e-mail addresses, ages, home addresses, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.  In short, it was fairly simple to understand the notion of information that would allow a third party to identify an end-user.

Today, however, with new technologies, including IP addresses, geolocation and a large emphasis on social media likes and dislikes, there is a lot more information out there that, in theory, can be used to identify an individual user.  Even if no one piece of information can be used to identify a person, could an aggregation of all of that data constitute PII?

Moreover, there are those questioning whether the current restrictions and protections for children are enough.  The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, passed a number of years prior to social media tools like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook, provided some protection for children under the age of 13.   However, given the new social media era and the prevalence of its use amongst tweens and teens, there are those arguing that not only do we need more stringent protections for children, but that they should be afforded to those over the age of 13 as well.

While there are several groups advocating for tighter privacy controls, it is also up to the consumer to be careful when conducting transactions online or via a mobile device. They should only do business with companies they trust and ones that have the policies and procedures in place to protect their data. When a company provides a link to its privacy policy or terms and conditions, end users should read the fine print to get an understanding of how their information will be used.  When tools are made available for the end user to control their privacy settings, he or she should take those controls seriously and opt for those protections that meet his or her needs.

The Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) Code of Conduct outlines privacy policies to help guide members of the mobile ecosystem in protecting the privacy of their end users.  The MMA believes that “strong mobile industry privacy principles will protect the mobile channel from abuses by unethical marketers, and limit consumer backlash and additional regulatory scrutiny.”

In the case of mobile barcodes, there are several participants in the ecosystem all with their own level of private information to protect (see our blog The Mobile Barcode Ecosystem – Sorting Out Who’s Who for more details).  Companies like Neustar are advocating for a more collaborative approach that would enable all members of the mobile barcode ecosystem to interoperate and engage a trusted third party like Neustar as an insurance policy against consumer fraud and deception.

Neustar is a company that handles phone number assignments in North America and manages number portability which allows you to keep your number whenever you change providers. It also manages the process of getting people from place to place on the Internet via the Domain Name System (DNS).  We are also working hard with the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) to launch a personal rights locker for consumers to buy digital content from retailers like Best Buy, Comcast and Netflix and watch that content from any device, including mobile devices (see www.uvvu.com).

We’re helping to pave the way for mass adoption of mobile barcodes by applying this same approach to the mobile market as well (see our blog Neustar’s Roots as Clearinghouse Perfect for 2D Barcodes for more details).  The clearinghouse model is not just about making things interoperable between carriers and campaign managers from a technical level. From the business side, it can give users confidence that their transactions are trusted, secure, and private.

As part of our Mobile Barcode Pilot Program, Neustar is bringing together the right set of players to ensure that their information is protected and that privacy rights are preserved.  Neustar can ensure that campaigns are certified and that the industry guidelines and procedures are being followed.

Protecting consumer privacy will continue to be a key driver for the adoption of new mobile technology. With a secure, protected infrastructure in place, all members of the mobile barcode ecosystem can deliver a more meaningful consumer experience while ensuring that the personal information about individuals remains private.