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Congressmen Send Inquiries to 34 App Developers Over Privacy Practices

It's a good thing democrats are focusing on iOS Apps and giving out free condoms. Do you think they will go after the app that lists off places to pick up your "free" condoms? Hmm.

Remember kids, government is looking out for YOU. They said so.

:rolleyes:
 
Shrink said:
While I agree with those posters above that there are many issues of crucial importance waiting to be addressed by Congress, I would suggest that the loss of personal privacy is an issue of great importance, at least to me.

The argument that privacy is already grossly compromised for anyone using a computer, smartphone, etc. is true, but that does not mitigate the need to pursue any and all means to limit further loss of privacy.

The cost of the letter was minimal. And if not some governmental branch to attempt some oversight, then who? Am I to trust private industry to protect my privacy?
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Agreed 100%

Some people need to get a grip and start understanding what's really going on these days and quit the knee-jerk reactions - but that's probably too much to ask these days.
 
croooow said:
So what happens if they do not respond?
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Everyone has the right to write a letter asking anyone, anything they want. If someone writes you a letter asking a question, you have every right to answer or not. It's your choice.

I think, some developers would want to take part in the survey. Developers are as concerned about privacy as anyone else. (Perhaps more concerned as developers better understand, how things can be compromised.)
 
They should be sending these questions to the FBI and CIA to determine how much personal and private information about us is being collected by their kinfolk. I would guess that Apple Apps pale in comparison.
 
JHankwitz said:
They should be sending these questions to the FBI and CIA to determine how much personal and private information about us is being collected by their kinfolk. I would guess that Apple Apps pale in comparison.
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You would be off by orders of magnitude.
 
Rocketman said:
These members are in the minority in the house, so this has no teeth. It is a political manuver to try to get media attention that they are "raising the issue". Check me on this. See if the issue and the folks show up on MSNBC, Current TV (Al Gore channel), and other liberal outlets like national networks from ABC, CBS and NBC. Interestingly CNN has become more moderate in the last couple of years.

Also check New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

Rocketman
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Yep. Every election cycle this trivial crap gets regurgitated. By October we'll be seeing flailing politicians lobbying for healthier dog food and legislation to crack down on energy drinks lest we all burst into flames.

Note to Waxman and Butterfield... don't you have a 15 trillion dollar debt to deal with?
 
Dear Rep. Waxman,

You need to wax that nasty mustache man. Then you can work on a budget, approve a pipeline and stop wasting time on stuff you know nothing about.

Let Apple and their Devs alone.

Regards,

The Whole Freaking World.
 
ignore them

I would just ignore the letter. They have no jurisdiction to force anyone to answer these questions without a court order. This is just some politicians playing busy body and big deal.

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Pay as much attention to their stupid letter as they pay to the bills that they sign.

Most politicians should have pursued a more honorable career selling used cars or suing McDonalds for serving hot coffee.
 
Dear Developers:

My Advise..

What ever you do, do not lie to mis-lead congress. They take a dim view of that and would not have a problem with nor any difficulty in putting you in the federal penitentiary. You might have scammed 1000's of users address books or what ever you did of which is not at this time illegal, maybe not very moral or ethical. However not disclosing the details of your actions by omission as well as being mis-leading is actually going to be far worse than the embarrassment of downloading address data.

Even if you live outside the USA they have long arms and lots of time and patience as well as lots and lots and lots of lawyers and dollars to deal with the issue. Don't piss them off...

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croooow said:
So what happens if they do not respond?
Click to expand...

1. Potentially nothing
2. Congressional Subpoena

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_Congress#Subpoenas

Congress does not like to be ignored. If they feel like you did not get the letter the next step is likely a federal marshall delivering a copy personally.

http://www.usmarshals.gov/process/index.html

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jdawgnoonan said:
I would just ignore the letter. They have no jurisdiction to force anyone to answer these questions without a court order. This is just some politicians playing busy body and big deal.

That is a bad idea. While a letter from congress is not from the Judicial, it carries a lot of weight. Congress would view it as an official request from the people of the United States of America. They would view it as if all the people they represent are asking the question not the individual congressman. You might think they guy asking is a total twit, but his view is that he or she represents the United States of America and is empowered by the people at all costs to protect and defend their interests.
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Has anybody tried to make sense of the Privacy Notice of WhatsApp Inc., the company that sells WhatsApp Messenger? The app lets you chat with other WhatsApp users on iOS and/or Android, without using your mobile service provider's SMS allotment. Seems like a handy app.

It's yet another app that uses your Contacts for a purpose you might be interested in. Their Privacy Notice is extensive but I don't see that it addresses some real concerns: How much of your Contact data do they store and what are all the purposes for which they use it? Also, I don't see mention of their privacy policy about the content of text and photo you exchange with other WhatsApp users. Are they monitoring or saving our conversations, which they can of course tie to the personally identifying information from our Contact lists? They seem to address this only for your status updates.
 
Shrink said:
While I agree with those posters above that there are many issues of crucial importance waiting to be addressed by Congress, I would suggest that the loss of personal privacy is an issue of great importance, at least to me. The argument that privacy is already grossly compromised for anyone using a computer, smartphone, etc. is true, but that does not mitigate the need to pursue any and all means to limit further loss of privacy. The cost of the letter was minimal. And if not some governmental branch to attempt some oversight, then who? Am I to trust private industry to protect my privacy?
Click to expand...
Well said. I find the continuing erosion of our personal privacy to be a serious concern. So, for me, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Will it solve every problem related to privacy? Nope. Will it keep watch over government spying? Nope. But at least it's a start in the right direction to see where all our data is going and why. Maybe we'll get some answers and maybe we won't, but at least companies like Apple and Google might think twice about ignoring privacy issues in the future. If folks don't care about their privacy they are still free to hand over as much personal data as they like, this won't stop them from doing so.
 
Dear Congress,

Please stop. You are horrible and we don't need you here. Go away. Go back to your offices, sit in the corner and think about what you have done, but for the love of God, don't waste my tax dollars on this crap.
 
racer1441 said:
Dear Congress,

Please stop. You are horrible and we don't need you here. Go away. Go back to your offices, sit in the corner and think about what you have done, but for the love of God, don't waste my tax dollars on this crap.
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The money argument is not going to change the mind of any congressmen. You need to give them another reason why this is a waste of their time and what the "real" issue that needs to be addressed.

However in this specific instance consider this:

1. No real measurable money (in the grand scheme of congress) has really been spent at this time to send out letters.
2. If the people who get the letters respond as requested, then congress has little or no reason other than read them and base there conclusion on that data with some possible less of a wide scope follow up.
3. If something wrong was done or the letters are ignored then they might do something, so really we want the people who got the letter to reply and we hope they played nice.

In the end, if all the people who got the letter confess to uploading all you address data and other personal data to their servers and then using that a data to do something evil, would you want congress to ignore the issue? Likely you would want the issue resolved expecially if it was your data.

So at this point, other than letters, waiting for a reply and if everyone has played nice then what has this cost? Likely less that Obama's lunch time security detail...
 
SteveSparks said:
In the end, if all the people who got the letter confess to uploading all you address data and other personal data to their servers and then using that a data to do something evil, would you want congress to ignore the issue?
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100% yes, I would want congress to ignore the issue. It's not their business. I don't want the government sticking their noses anywhere.
 
racer1441 said:
100% yes, I would want congress to ignore the issue. It's not their business. I don't want the government sticking their noses anywhere.
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Serious question: to whom would you then turn for privacy protection?

A polite request to the data pirates to please stop doing that?

What group or agency would you seek to help stop this data theft?

With all due respect, this get-government-out-of-everything seems a bit simplistic.
 
Shrink said:
Serious question: to whom would you then turn for privacy protection?

A polite request to the data pirates to please stop doing that?

What group or agency would you seek to help stop this data theft?

With all due respect, this get-government-out-of-everything seems a bit simplistic.
Click to expand...

No one. I don't put data I wouldn't want out there on digital devices. It's my job to be secure with my information.
 
Once again I am simply astonished at the attitudes of so many here.

Apps developers sneakily steal - yes I said STEAL - your personal information such as all the contacts on your iPhone and these people even don't care.

Then they get all upset because Congress is doing it's job to stop this kind of abuse.

Ohmigosh, what the hell is wrong with you people?
 
Jetson said:
Once again I am simply astonished at the attitudes of so many here.

Apps developers sneakily steal - yes I said STEAL - your personal information such as all the contacts on your iPhone and these people even don't care.

Then they get all upset because Congress is doing it's job to stop this kind of abuse.

Ohmigosh, what the hell is wrong with you people?
Click to expand...

What makes it congresses job and not your to protect your own information?
 
NY Guitarist said:
So when anyone, a person, or corporation, takes something of yours without your permission, then there is no recourse? Or will you be solely responsible for bringing justice to the situation?
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It's not a place for government. Doesn't mean you have no recourse, but you don't need congress holding your hand.
 
racer1441 said:
No one. I don't put data I wouldn't want out there on digital devices. It's my job to be secure with my information.
Click to expand...

And what about those who must put sensitive information on their digital devices. It seems that you are saying that if it's not a problem for me, it's not a problem for anyone - so nothing needs be done.
 
Shrink said:
And what about those who must put sensitive information on their digital devices. It seems that you are saying that if it's not a problem for me, it's not a problem for anyone - so nothing needs be done.
Click to expand...

And what must you put up there so critical?
 
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