“Location data is certainly, in many instances, private data, and there then follows the obligations to inform users, and the opportunity to opt in or opt out,” Peter Hustinx, Europe’s Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and member of the working group, told IDG News Service in a PCWorld article.
In the U.S., app developers, loyalty and rewards providers, fraud detection services, and any number of other categories of companies have already latched on to the potential value of location data and assumed their right to collect that data. Those with global or multinational marketing plans (including financial firms) need to increase their awareness of European Union’s Data Protection Directive, and begin to exercise more caution.
Some very big names in the tech world have blithely ignored existing European regulations, and as a result, will be facing regulatory discipline and consumer-driven lawsuits in Europe in the relatively near future.
Click here to read the article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/228034/location_data_is_personal_and_private_confirms_eu_watchdog.html%20%20F
Click here for the EPDS opinion: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2011/wp185_en.pdf
