The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) today launched its ACT 4 Apps Initiative with broad support from mobile industry leaders including Apple, AT&T, BlackBerry, Facebook, Microsoft, PayPal and Verizon. ACT 4 Apps will educate app makers on issues including privacy and data security to promote continued industry growth through improved developer education.

ACT is widely recognized as the leading voice for developers in the $20 billion app industry. The ACT 4 Apps initiative bolsters this leadership role with support for ACT’s ongoing programs providing developers with resources, guidance, and best practices on app privacy and security. The initiative will also support ACT’s work educating consumers about app privacy controls, and promote the continued development of its highly acclaimed data transparency tools. Additionally, ACT 4 Apps will continue to engage the app developer community on issues important to the future of the industry.

As an association of developers for developers, ACT possesses the firsthand expertise necessary to meet the challenges app makers face. The ACT 4 Apps Initiative will educate app developers, providing the tools and resources necessary to meet privacy guidelines, build consumer trust, and grow their companies. ACT 4 Apps exists to simplify these steps so developers can concentrate on what they do best: making the next great app.

In 2013, the ACT 4 Apps Initiative will include:

App Developer Education & Bootcamps
ACT 4 Apps will conduct workshops and boot camps for app developers around the country to provide training and assistance on best practices for consumer privacy and identifying new market opportunities. The events often include presentations by leading entrepreneurs, senior government officials, and privacy experts. Events already scheduled for 2013 will take place at SXSW and the Renaissance iOS conference.

App Privacy Dashboard & Other Tools
Since 2011, ACT has been actively engaged with developers to design privacy-enhancing tools. ACT 4 Apps will support that work and continue development of the App Privacy Dashboard, a privacy disclosure platform optimized for mobile devices that provide consumers at-a-glance information about app data usage. This project is part of the NTIA multi-stakeholder process to create a new form of data transparency designed for small screens and mobile devices.

Bringing the Voice of App Innovators to Washington
ACT 4 Apps will assist app makers who want their voices heard in Washington, in statehouses across the country, and governments around the world. ACT will invite developers to travel to Washington and meet with Members of Congress, White House officials, and federal agency staff. Fly-in participants receive issue briefings, media training, and a customized app with location services to help navigate the halls of Congress while promoting collaboration and social networking.

App Industry Studies
ACT 4 Apps will support academic and market analyses that provide insight into the rapidly growing app industry. ACT has produced multiple studies demonstrating the app economy’s dramatic impact on job growth and the U.S. economy. These publications have been covered extensively by the media, featured in Congressional hearings, and have helped improve public understanding about the app industry’s economic benefits impacting the entire nation.

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

What do you do if your cell phone is stolen? I appeared on Fox TV 5 in Washington, DC this morning to talk about your options. As more and more people are using smartphones, we are now carrying a lot of personal and sensitive information on these devices. This has simplified our lives and made daily tasks more convenient when we’re on the go. But what do you do when your smartphone is stolen? How can you make sure your private information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands?

Yesterday, Washington DC Mayor Gray announced an education plan to do something about this. With 40% of all DC robberies involving stolen smartphones, the mayor is encouraging DC residents to learn about disabling their device after it’s been stolen. It’s called “bricking.” The mayor hopes to reduce cellphone theft if consumers brick their stolen smartphones so thieves can’t sell them.

To “brick” your phone is fairly simple. Most of us buy our phones from the wireless carrier we have a contract with. They can use what is essentially a serial number to permanently disable your device. Consumers should keep in mind that this is the nuclear option. Once you brick your phone, it can no longer be used, with any phone company anywhere in America.

If your phone is stolen – and you’re sure it’s stolen – call your wireless carrier and ask them to disable your phone. They’ll ask for information about your account that only you should know. Some carriers will ask for a police report before beginning this process. That helps to avoid the situation where someone – say an angry ex – tries to impersonate you to disable your phone.

Thankfully, there are some simple steps consumers can take to protect their private information on their smartphone and possibly avoid this nuclear option.

1. Use a Password. Make sure your phone has a password. This is the simplest and most important way to ensure your information is protected, especially right after it’s stolen.

2. Use Find Phone App. If you’re like me, you may have misplaced your phone, believing it stolen, only to find it in the couch cushions later. Thankfully most smartphones have apps that help you find your phone. These apps also let you lock them and wipe all your data. Check out these sites to learn about the app that will work for your phone.

Find My iPhone
Where’s my Droid
Blackberry Protect

3. WindowsPhone. Window Phone users can visit the website, http://WindowsPhone.com to perform the same functions.

The Association for Competitive Technology today launched the next generation of its App Privacy Icons, the App Privacy Dashboard. ACT was widely recognized for its leadership in the app industry when it collaborated with consumer group PrivacyChoice.org, Moms with Apps, app developers, and design experts to create its first self-regulatory effort. The Dashboard was unveiled at the NTIA App Privacy meeting receiving wide acclaim from industry and privacy advocates alike.

The App Privacy Dashboard

Not content to rest on its laurels, ACT has continued innovating and testing new designs to produce an improved privacy display for mobile devices. The App Privacy Dashboard takes the easily recognizable App Privacy Icons and optimizes their display to fill a smartphone screen. The Dashboard also provides additional layers of information so a user can click on an icon to learn more about the specific data usage they care about.

In this release, ACT applied lessons learned from consumer testing of its App Privacy Icons and earlier iterations of app privacy displays. In what comes as no surprise to UX experts, we found users more likely to quickly grasp information presented to them in a graphical display as opposed to lines of text. But the key improvement our latest release offers is that it easily facilitates layered privacy policies. By presenting the icons in a format users are familiar navigating, we are able to link each data category to a more expansive description in easy-to-read text.

To see and test an example of the privacy dashboard, ACT created a prototype describing the data usage of its own app created for its members visiting Washington. We used short-form descriptions of data uses already provided by industry groups that help app makers create privacy policies including TRUSTe and PrivacyChoice. ACT presented this at NTIA and it was very well received. To see the dashboard in practice (best viewed on a mobile phone), visit http://j.mp/privacydashboard.