Privacy groups file mobile marketing complaint with FTC

14.01.2009
Two privacy groups on Tuesday asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to regulate how mobile marketers can use consumers' personal information, saying many people don't know when their information is being collected from cell phones and how it's being used.

The mobile industry responded that it already offers enough consumer protection through self-regulation, and one analyst said it is doing a good enough job that government intervention isn't necessary.

In their , the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group asked the FTC to expand an existing inquiry into online interactive marketing to include mobile marketing.

They said the FTC should identify practices that compromise privacy and consumer welfare; examine opt-in procedures to make sure consumers are aware of what data they are giving up and how it will be used; investigate marketing tactics that target children and "multicultural communities," and create policies to halt abusive practices.

The filing acknowledges the industry's effort to police itself but says it does not go far enough. "Current self-regulatory privacy and marketing policies in the mobile arena are inadequate," the groups said. They also criticized the mobile advertising industry for creating its regulations without meaningful participation from consumers or consumer protection agencies like the FTC.

One of the major concerns is that mobile-phone customers don't know what they're agreeing to when they allow mobile operators to provide them targeted advertising, said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. Customers may not know that their personal data is being "retained, put in a profile and potentially shared" with other companies, Chester said.