An Open Letter to Platforms Regarding Privacy Nutrition Labels

Privacy nutrition labels are among the most innovative and trendiest user-oriented privacy tools rolled out by digital platforms in recent years, with both Apple and Google gradually integrating them into their app stores and many other players in the internet ecosystem following their lead. These labels (first conceptualized by Innovators Network Foundation Privacy Fellow Lorrie Cranor in a series of papers), seek to distill complicated data processing activities into a more understandable format so that the average consumer can make a more informed choice regarding app data collection and sharing.

Dr. Cranor’s initial research demonstrates that many app developers welcome privacy nutrition labels as a convenient, efficient, and user-friendly way for them to demonstrate their privacy practices. They tend to see it as a major improvement from the previous practice of directing users to lengthy privacy policies for similar information, but they also say there is also room for improvement.

Today, we share an open letter to app platforms with key suggestions from the app developer community regarding various ways that the nutrition label concept could be improved in both development and execution.

Recommendations to platforms include:

• Provide detailed examples, case studies, frequently asked questions, and resources for developers to rely upon when creating their privacy label.
• Harmonize terminology used in privacy labeling, while improving outreach and education to both the developer community and the public at large regarding such terminology.
• Provide additional human support staff whom developers can query if they need to troubleshoot issues as they fill out the labels.
• Communicate to all stakeholders about the existence and value of the emerging privacy labeling paradigm.

We are incredibly heartened by the progress the entire app economy—from the smallest developers to the largest platforms—has made on privacy transparency in recent years, and these labels are a centerpiece of those efforts. We stand ready to partner with platforms to make these labels even more of a success and to maintain the trust in the app ecosystem that has served our members so well.

Read the full letter below.