App-Makers Are On Washington’s Radar
“It helps to clarify and make it very clear that the existing COPPA regulations do apply to mobile apps, and mobile app developers need to be aware of what the rules and regulations are with respect to COPPA compliance,” said Morgan Reed, the group’s executive director.
But Reed still urged against congressional regulation targeted specifically to the app community, noting there’s “a pretty good amount of existing regulation and case law” that allow the FTC and other federal entities to keep watch over the industry.
Of course, the FTC faces limitations. For the most part, the agency is unable to sanction app developers for lacking a privacy policy in the first place — a concern some in industry, including ACT and the Future of Privacy Forum, are trying to address on their own.