E-commerce trade group: Mobile geolocation privacy bill is 'awful'

22.03.2012
U.S. Senate legislation that would require mobile apps to get permission to check the geolocation of a user is among the bills that make up trade group NetChoice's latest list of "awful" bills for e-commerce.

NetChoice sees the bill as requiring a pop-up notice every time a mobile app collects geolocation information, said Steve DelBianco, the trade group's executive director. The sponsor of the bill disputed NetChoice's reading of the .

The bill, introduced by Senator Al Franken last June, would require mobile apps to get express authorization from users before collecting geolocation information. The bill would require mobile apps to give users "clear and prominent notice" about what geolocation information they collect.

The bill would allow lawsuits against app providers that violate the rules, with damages of US$2,500 per violation. The geolocation bill is No. 2 on (Internet Advocates' Watchlist for Ugly Laws) list, released Thursday.

DelBianco called the fines the "scariest" part of the bill. "It's one thing to be incredibly annoying to your users by virtue of a federal law, but it's another thing when it exposes you to lawsuits with statutory damages," he said.

A spokeswoman for Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, said NetChoice is misreading the bill.