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Rep. Markey releases draft of cellphone privacy bill
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) released a draft of a cellphone privacy bill on Monday in response to the controversy surrounding cellphone tracking software, Carrier IQ.
The Mobile Device Privacy Act would require companies to disclose if they are using tracking software like Carrier IQ and what information the software collects. Consumers would have to consent to any data collection or transmission, and third parties would have to have policies in place to secure the data they collect.
Companies that want to transfer data to third parties would have to file applications with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Markey serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is the co-chairman of the Congressional Privacy Caucus.
Carrier IQ, which is embedded in millions of smartphones, is designed to help cellphone companies track the performance of their devices. The software first made headlines in November, when a researcher posted a YouTube video claiming to show that Carrier IQ records users' every keystroke, including the websites they visit, the contents of their text messages and their location.
Carrier IQ argues that most of the personal information it collects stays in the user's cellphone and is not transmitted back to the company. The company says it only gathers information that would be helpful to evaluate the phone's performance.
"As we have previously indicated, opt-in / opt-out is a capability that we are able to provide and have been doing so in a number of markets," Andrew Coward, vice president of marketing for Carrier IQ, said in an email. "Utilizing this option is a decision for each network operator balancing a number of factors including the critical need to ensure optimal network and device performance and consumer concerns about privacy."
--Updated at 1:51 p.m.
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