Protecting your users’ privacy requires you to be thoughtful about the data you collect and hold, and how you use it. By carefully considering the costs and benefits of collecting data and by properly safeguarding the information that you do collect, you prevent privacy harms and increase consumer trust in your company. 
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Limit and protect the data you collect, retain, and use.
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RESPECT YOUR DATA

Apple Cuts Out Contact With Contacts: Smart Move for Privacy

Apple has been lauded for its privacy friendly update to the iOS App store rules to prohibit developers from building a contact database (something Path got nabbed for back in 2012), using information collected via user contacts to communicate with...Read more >

Dating Data: Grindr’s Oversharing of Sensitive User Information

The dating app Grindr found itself embroiled in controversy after reports that the app was sharing user’s HIV status with third parties. At issue was that Grindr users may not have been adequately informed that sensitive health information was being...Read more >

Cambridge Apocalyptica: Facebook’s Platform-App Privacy Disaster

Facebook was thrown into full-blown crisis after reports that Cambridge Analytica, a shadowy voter-profiling company, used information from tens of millions of Facebook users’ profiles as part of its work for the Trump campaign during the 2016...Read more >

Open Whisper Systems Praised for Collecting Minimal User Data

Customers and privacy advocates applauded Open Whisper Systems (OWS) after an unsealed court document revealed how the company’s product design had prevented user data from being turned over to the government. By default, OWS’s encrypted messaging...Read more >

YouTube Called Out for Collecting "Deeply Private Information"

In 2008, YouTube's practice of collecting "deeply private information " about its users, including identifying information and records of every video they had watched, led to criticism when the data was put at risk in a copyright lawsuit. Viacom...Read more >

Vizio Sued Over Smart TV Privacy and Security Flaws

Smart TV manufacturer Vizio found itself in hot water for privacy and security issues after it was revealed their Smart TVs were collecting and sharing user data with third parties on a massive scale. Compounding this was a report by Avast...Read more >

Broken Thumbs Gets Thumbs-Down for Child Privacy Failure

In August 2011, mobile app maker Broken Thumbs was fined by the FTC and subjected to ongoing monitoring of its privacy practices after collecting information from young users. The FTC alleged that the company’s games collected information from...Read more >

AOL Embarrassed by Release of Re-Identifiable Data

In 2006, AOL and its Chief Technical Officer learned the hard way that “anonymizing” data requires more than simply removing user IDs. The company thought that it had properly anonymized the search records of 500,000 of its users when it posted that...Read more >

DO YOU USE DATA IN WAYS THAT PROTECT YOUR USERS?

Failing to consider how you will use the data you collect can undermine the effectiveness of your product and place your users at risk. Limit your use of data to what is necessary to accomplish your product’s purpose. Consider the impact of your data-use decisions on both your service and on your...

DO YOU PROPERLY HANDLE ANY SENSITIVE DATA THAT YOU DO COLLECT?

Some types of data can be particularly sensitive and require special care. Information such as medical records, financial records, and data concerning children has specific legal requirements that you need to follow. But any data that users consider sensitive should be treated with care, because...