[LINK] Another phone tracking story

[Jan Whitaker]

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-tracking.html

the end of the article makes an interesting observation:

The government prohibits telephone companies from sharing customer 
data, including location information, with outside parties without 
first getting the customer's consent. But ****those rules don't apply 
to Apple and other phone makers.**** Nor do they apply to the new 
ecosystem of mobile services offered through those apps made by 
third-party developers.

What's more, because those rules were written for old-fashioned 
telephone service, it's ***unclear whether they apply to mobile 
broadband service at all*** - even for wireless carriers that are 
also traditional phone companies, like AT&T Inc. and Verizon.

Both the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade 
Commission have said they are looking into the issue. But for now, 
it's up to smartphone users to decide: Is it privacy they are most 
concerned about, or convenience?


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

_ __________________ _