House Wants Cell Phone Owners Warned of Tracking Software

A new bill being introduced by Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey would require cell phone makers and network operators to inform consumers about any location-tracking or information-sharing software/services that are installed on the device. "Consumers have the right to know and to say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices that can collect and transmit their personal and sensitive information," said Markey. "While consumers rely on their phones, their phones relay all sorts of information about them, often without their knowledge or consent. I am concerned about the threat to consumers' privacy posed by electronic monitoring software on mobile phones. Today I am releasing draft legislation to provide greater transparency into the transmission of consumers' personal information and empower consumers to say no to such transmission." The Mobile Device Privacy Act covers a wide range of scenarios and demands that customers be informed about what software is on board, what information it collects, to which entity it sends that information, and requires that the receiving entities store the information securely.

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