Privacy on the Go – California Attorney General Publishes Recommendations
Privacy on the Go was published by California’s Attorney General in January 2013. It offers the AG’s privacy practice recommendations for participants at all levels of the mobile ecosystem.
Privacy on the Go begins with a message from the AG. Part of that message explains why the publication was produced (emphasis added).
The world has gone mobile. Today, 85 percent of American adults own a cell phone and over half of them use their phones to access the Internet. The mobile app marketplace is also booming with more than 1,600 new mobile apps being introduced every day. These apps allow us to do everything from streaming movies to hailing a cab to viewing our own X-ray and ultrasound images.
If You Want Personal Info from CA Residents, You Need a Privacy Policy
Any Website provider or online service – including any mobile app – that collects personally identifiable information from users residing in California needs to have a privacy policy. And that privacy policy must be posted conspicuously. The details are set forth in Business and Professions Code Sections 22575 through 22579.
Personally identifiable information includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
- First and last name
- Physical address, including street name and name of a city or town
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Social security number
- Any other identifier that permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual
Can I prepare a website Privacy Policy without a lawyer?
Startup entrepreneurs always are looking for ways to save money. A question that I receive from time to time: Is it possible to prepare a website Privacy Policy without a lawyer’s help?
Simply copying another company’s Privacy Policy is a mistake, because two companies rarely want to handle all privacy matters exactly the same way. However, there are quite a few website Privacy Policy Generators (PPGs) online. Just do a Google search for “privacy policy generator”.
The user provides answers to a series of questions. Based on the user’s answers, the PPG provides recommended text for a website Privacy Policy.
