Facebook, Apple and Google executives are among the witnesses named for a May 19 hearing in consumer mobile privacy and protection.
Executives from Facebook, Apple and Google are
headed to Washington for a second Senate hearing in as many weeks on the issues
of consumer privacy and mobility.
The hearing May
19 at 10 a.m. ET, called by Sen. John Rockefeller, D-WV, chairman of the
Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance Subcommittee, follows a similar one May 9, in which officials with
Apple and Google defended their privacy policies during questioning by
skeptical congressmen.
Facebook CTO Bret Taylor,
Apple's Vice President of Worldwide Government Affairs Catherine A. Novelli,
and Google Director of Public Policy for the Americas Alan Davidson are expected to speak during the hearing, as is Federal
Trade Commission Director David Vladeck and executives from the Association for
Competitive Technology and Common Sense Media.
"The hearing will also explore the possible role of the
federal government in protecting consumers in the mobile marketplace and
promoting their privacy," Rockefeller told the AFP.
Google's Davidson made the trip to Washington only days ago to
participate in a subcommittee hearing hosted by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., regarding the location data collection
policies of Google and Apple devices. In his written testimony, Davidson
emphasized the criticality of users' trust to the success of Google's business
model - a point that may bear repeating at the
hearing May 19.
"Without the trust of our users, we simply would not be
able to offer these services or platforms because on the Internet, competing
services are only one click away," Davison said. "If we fail to offer
clear, usable privacy controls, transparency in our privacy practices, and
strong security, our users will simply switch to another provider."
On May 13, Facebook introduced new security features meant
to assuage the growing concerns over the privacy of information that Facebook
users share on the site. Earlier this month, 15
consumer privacy groups filed
a complaint with the FTC, saying that Facebook's privacy settings
"adversely impact" its users.
"Facebook now discloses personal information to third
parties that Facebook users previously did not make available," the
complaint continues. "These changes violate user expectations, diminish
user privacy and contradict Facebook's own representations."
Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital
Democracy, told eWEEK in March that social
networks and privacy protection don't need to be at odds.
"The problem is when companies like Facebook become
obsessed with monetizing every bit of their members' data, and throw caring about privacy out the digital window. A
responsible social network can balance generating profits with also protecting
privacy," Chester
said.
Rockefeller recently also introduced legislation to protect
consumer privacy. The Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011 would give consumers the
option to not have their Internet surfing tracked by Web companies and shared
with advertisers.
"Recent reports of privacy invasions have made it
imperative that we do more to put consumers in the driver's seat when it comes
to their personal information," Rockefeller said in a statement following
the bill's May 9 introduction.
The bill, if passed, would legally obligate companies to
honor consumers' choices and empower the FTC to pursue action against companies
that fail to do so.
"Consumers have a right to know when and how their
personal and sensitive information is being used online," Rockefeller
added, "and most importantly to be able to say 'no thanks' when companies
seek to gather that information without their approval.
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