Privacy Advisory Group Issues Proposals on Geolocation Data
Privacy Advisory Group Issues Proposals on Geolocation Data
The Article 29 Working Party, an influential committee of data protection regulators that advises the European Commission, published an Opinion earlier this week on location data on smart mobile devices (you can read the full Opinion here).
It says location data collected by devices such as Apple’s iPhone and 3G iPad, and Google’s Android system, should be classed as personal data and the default legal basis for processing it should be prior informed consent.
If adopted the proposal is likely to mean stricter rules on how location data can be collected and used by smartphone companies, telecoms operators and other businesses providing location-based services through smart devices.
The Opinion follows recent publicity over Apple’s collection of data that tracked the location of iPhone users, and claims by researchers in Germany that Android handsets could be hacked through public wifi networks. (Both companies have since said they’re fixing the problems.)
The Working Party’s proposals are effectively the first step to formulating a law on smart device location data, and could be written into Europe’s revised Data Protection Directive later this year (on which, see my earlier blog post here).
Questions remain, however, over just how much more regulation we need. EU law already defines “traffic data” and “location data”, the principal difference being that the latter isn’t covered if it’s anonymous.
In its Conclusions the Opinion observes that “Since smartphones and tablet computers are inextricably linked to their owner, the movement patterns of the devices provide a very intimate insight into the [owner’s] private life ... One of the great risks is that the owners are unaware they transmit their location, and to whom.”
The Working Party’s proposal is that companies should get permission from users before collecting geographic information and should disclose what the data will be used for. By default, location services should be switched off.
Given the enormous range of location-based services being offered and developed, this would be a fairly radical extension of the existing legal framework. It’s not clear at the moment whether this is an approach legislators really want to take.
Article 29 Working Party Issues Opinion On Geolocation Data
19/05/2011
The Article 29 Working Party has said use of location data should be based on prior consent.
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