'Stalking Apps' Closer To Being Banned As U.S. Bill Approved

[engine]

It's the stealth aspect which is the problem, and folks will need to read the installation acceptance very closely.

A US politician campaigning for tighter restrictions on location tracking via mobile devices has had his bill approved by a Senate committee.

The Location Privacy Protection Act would make it illegal for companies to sell apps which provide the location of the phone to other users.

It would also outlaw apps from collecting or tracking location data without the consent of the owner.

Parents wishing to monitor their children's phones would be exempt.

'Stalking Apps' Closer To Being Banned As U.S. Bill Approved [bbc.co.uk]

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

One hand doesn't know what the other is doing apparently, at the same time they want to allow the creation of a payment system that lets you swipe your phone at a chash checkout. It's already being tested in Canada and the resulting data is a hot commodity on many levels. Phones are even being sold with "lifetime" numbers in order to make tracking number to person a lot easier in preparation.

I like the approach of flatly outlawing methods of tracking someone over making those things opt out but in reality your cell device must track you in order to provide signal for things like the time, updates etc. The data is too valuable to ad selling companies not to want to tap.

It will be interesting to see if services like four-square shut down too.

[incrediBILL]

It will be interesting to see if services like four-square shut down too.

It's already completely voluntary and opt-in for idiots that want to use it so why would it shut down?