This tagline really fits today’s launch of PrivacyChoice Resources. It’s our challenge to mobile app developers everywhere who have been procrastinating about privacy. Listen up: It’s not difficult anymore to get a privacy policy that fits for your app and is actually human-readable. In fact, we’re giving them away.
I’m floored by all of the positive feedback we’re getting for the Policymaker product, from developers, industry leaders or just folks who check out one of our policies on their phone. With the launch of the full resource center, we’re now starting to build out a true privacy curriculum for app developers and startups. It’s time to start thinking about privacy in practical terms. Time to get our apps in gear.
PrivacyChoice Challenges Developers To “Get Their Apps in Gear”
New privacy resource center is stocked with free policies, tools and code for mobile developers
SILICON VALLEY, CA and WASHINGTON, DC – October 18, 2011 – PrivacyChoice has announced the launch of PrivacyChoice Resources, a site dedicated to privacy-conscious development of mobile apps and websites. The only site of its kind, PrivacyChoice Resources enables developers to “get their apps in gear” quickly, efficiently, and in line with best privacy practices.
PrivacyChoice also announced that its mobile privacy-policy templates, painstakingly developed through analysis of hundreds of policies and reflecting input from industry experts, are now available for free, commercial use under a Creative Commons license. Developers crafting their own privacy policy can now start from state-of-the-art language, instead of cutting and pasting potentially inappropriate language from other policies.
“Nearly every app store requires developers to provide a privacy policy for their apps if they transmit data. Until now, compliance has been expensive, time-consuming and therefore widely ignored,” said Jim Brock, PrivacyChoice CEO. “Our resources make it possible for developers and app marketplaces to comply with these important requirements quickly and efficiently. App developers win, app distributors win, and most importantly, app users win through better privacy disclosure and choice.”
At launch, PrivacyChoice Resources includes these key elements:
- Policymaker – A 10-15 minute guided process to implement best privacy practices and create a human-readable privacy policy, which PrivacyChoice delivers as code or in a made-for-mobile hosted interface, permitting easy integration with the app and its app store listing.
- Policy Language – Over 25 summary templates spanning 11 key disclosure categories, each with related detailed disclosure, all available for free use under a Creative Commons license; this allows developer to easily pick terms that apply to their actual data practices.
- Code Resources – Ready-to-use code for enhanced privacy features, such as a two-step Facebook button (to limit Facebook data collection) and an intercept to encourage users to upgrade to more privacy-protective browsers, all available as open-source software.
- Guidance – Privacy-conscious tips, resources and advice, such as “The Top Six Privacy Mistakes App Developers Make” and a complete guide to the privacy requirements of top app marketplaces.
PrivacyChoice’s announcement came at the Online Trust Alliance 2011 Forum, which gathers business, industry and government leaders, executives and practitioners committed to enhancing online trust.
Craig Spiezle, Executive Director and President of the Online Trust Alliance, said:
“By educating and empowering developers to ‘up their game’ on privacy, PrivacyChoice is helping to deliver on the promise of greater online trust through transparency and choice.”
Einar Vollset, developer of popular Mortgage Calculator App and Mortgage Rate App for iPhone said:
“PrivacyChoice Policymaker allows us to deliver a top-flight privacy policy for our users cheaply and efficiently, so we can get back to creating a great experience for our users.”
Jules Polonetsky, Co-Chairman and Director of the Future of Privacy Forum, said:
“App developers are on the front lines when it comes to user privacy on mobile devices. PrivacyChoice Resources helps take much of the pain and mystery out of doing a better job on privacy for their users.”
About PrivacyChoice
Founded in 2009, the PrivacyChoice mission is to make online privacy easier. For web users, PrivacyChoice offers tracking control tools (including TrackerBlock) that have been trusted by more than a million web users. For mobile and website developers, PrivacyChoice provides a privacy framework that includes tracker monitoring, hosted privacy disclosure and custom consulting and implementation. PrivacyChoice’s data and platform also power services for DoubleVerify, Reputation.com, Ensighten and Krux Digital, among others.
Contact
Jim Brock, CEO
jim@privacychoice.org
408-641-9290