Newswise — Stephen B. Wicker, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, conducts research in wireless information networks and how regulation can affect privacy and speech rights. Wicker comments on proposed legislation to limit the use of embedded software on mobile phones that can detect and record keystrokes, threatening individual privacy and security.
Wicker says:
“On Jan. 30, Congressman Ed Markey proposed the Mobile Device Privacy Act, legislation intended to ‘require disclosures to consumers regarding the capability of software to monitor mobile telephone usage, to require the express consent of the consumer prior to monitoring.’ This was a clear response to the recent controversy over the discovery of Carrier IQ software on certain Android, BlackBerry and Nokia cell phones that has the capability of logging keystrokes and reporting them to the cellular service provider.
“The proposed legislation is admirable for its embodiment of several privacy-aware information practices. First, disclosures must be in a ‘clear and conspicuous manner’ that will be understandable to the consumer. The express consent of the customer is required; in other words, an opt-in regime is mandated. Those who receive information from the monitoring software must implement adequate security practices. Lastly, enforcement mechanisms are spelled out, including allowing individuals to bring action in state or federal court.
“The biggest problem with the new legislation is a ‘rule of construction’ that seems to free the service providers themselves from having to follow the new rules. This is a serious mistake – the service providers have been and continue to be in the best position to obtain the greatest amount of information from what is, essentially, a surveillance technology. In a world in which an increasing number of functions are performed on the cellular platform, the service providers need to be held to the same privacy-aware requirements as everyone else.”
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