CTIA Proposes Best Practices for Location-Based Services
LAS VEGAS -- The CTIA board approved best practices and guidelines for the new location-based services (LBS) increasingly available on wireless devices. The group will submit the eight-page document to the FCC and ask that it be adopted as guidelines. The FCC previously had declined to adopt LBS rules.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“The hallmark of these guidelines is notice,” the document stated. “LBS Providers must inform LBS users about how their location information will be used, disclosed and protected so that… potential LBS users can make an informed decision whether or not to use the service or authorize the disclosure.”
CTIA said the FCC should not dictate the “form, placement, manner of delivery or content notices” that LBS providers use to provide notice. The main rule is “it must not be misleading, and if combined with other terms or conditions, the LBS portion must be conspicuous,” CTIA said.
The guidelines comply with FCC CPNI rules and are important if subscribers are to be willing to use LBS, said a wireless industry source. The FCC rejected CTIA’s request for LBS rules in 2002, saying then that “commercial wireless location-based services are in a developmental stage and are just beginning to emerge.”
“You don’t want to have customer feel they have to hire a communications lawyer to understand what their privacy expectations are,” the industry source said. “In order for customers to embrace these services they need to be comfortable that they can control the use of their location information, however it’s derived… We've worked very hard to come up with a flexible set of principles that will apply to these services.”
“The guidelines outline numerous examples to help educate consumers, stakeholders, and policymakers on the complexity and range of issues involved with location-based services,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “The decision to use an LBS service ultimately lies with the consumer, and wireless carriers and LBS providers participating in this important industry initiative are committed to help consumers make informed decisions by giving them notice up-front about how their location information will be used, disclosed and protected.”