Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Do You Have Mobile App Privacy Policy?

Ecommerce has always been about a mutually beneficial exchange of offering products and services in return for cash or an equivalent value exchange. At the same time, this leaves customers to a blind confusion of what the company does with their contact details and why do they gather it.

This article explains three reasons why mobile app developers should have a privacy policy that outlines data collection.


Report from the Federal Trade Commission

·         Only 28 percent of paid apps and 48 percent of free apps available in the Apple App Store include a privacy policy or link to a privacy policy on the app promotion page. 
·         The pop-up notification that asks permission for push notifications is the best example of “just-in-time disclosure” 
·         SDK and other third-party code that app developers often integrate in the app to facilitate advertising or analytics

What happens if you don’t follow or update your privacy policy?

While it’s normal for an app to ask permission to access third-party information on your phone, say for instance address book info, what data you collect is crucial. This is why app development companies are subjected to COPPA, a federal law that says you must obtain “verifiable parent consent” if children under 13 use your app.  Else, you can be fined.

It’s a Matter of Gaining Confidence

A recent survey found that 57 percent of all app users have either uninstalled an app over concerns about having to share their personal information. Meanwhile, there are crowd sourced policing tools in place now as such TOS, DR, Privacy Choice, etc to build confidence. Thanks to it as it establishes a level of trust with your user base that has positive effects on retention, and may even give you a competitive advantage.

To conclude, there are pretty compelling reasons to have a good privacy policy for your mobile applications. Besides being the fact that only big publisher can afford you can start with a free online template or a free privacy policy assembler and have a lawyer review it for a small fixed fee.


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