On Tuesday, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris began to formally inform several application developers and companies that they are violating California privacy law.
According to a press release from Harris’s office, thirty days ago, the companies were told to post a privacy policy that informed consumers what private information about them was being collected, as well as what would be done with that information. Letters are now being sent to non-compliant developers and apps, starting with the most popular.
The letters are the first step to taking legal action. The California Online Privacy Protection Act requires online service operators that collect personal information to conspicuously, publicly post the privacy policy describing how the company collects, uses and shares that information.
Violators of this act can face fines of up to $2,500 each time a noncompliant app is downloaded.
Harris is following an agreement she made with the leading mobile and social app platforms—Amazon, Facebook, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Research in Motion—to improve privacy protection for the users.
Harris published a sample letter sent to non-compliant developers and companies. The letter, signed by Supervising Deputy Attorney General Adam Miller, details California privacy law and informs the recipient that they have 30 days to detail either how the developer will become compliant with the law, or why they believe the app is not covered by the law.
