After firing off a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs last month then holding a senate hearing about mobile privacy, Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) is still hot about the location-tracking issue. This week he sent another letter to Jobs and Google CEO Larry Page insisting the companies create privacy policies for app makers to make sure third-party companies are not collecting, sharing or misusing customer information.
In the hearing earlier this month, Franken asked Apple and Google representatives to explain how they use location-data. The reps said iPhone and Android phones collect anonymous data on nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers that is transmitted to a large database, thereby improving the speed and accuracy of location-based services. Franken now wants to know that third-party smartphone app developers will also put privacy policies in place that disclose how they’re using customer information.
Read more at Wired.
