Garbage Document

November 7, 2014

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

5 ways to tackle blame

1. Laugh at it, Treat it as a non-event, not even worth talking about or taking any action.
2. Treat opinions and accusations as passing clouds and more of an entertainment.
3. Discourage dwelling on unpleasant and negative moments.
4. Be non-judgmental and absolutely unshaken in your space of love.
5. Remain centered and calm, and do not take pride in your wisdom.

Mobile apps are the new "must have" tool in any mobile marketing strategy,
particularly for consumer brands. Cost effective to develop and operate, apps provide
an ease and immediacy of interaction with consumers that is not available through
traditional marketing channels.
They also have the potential to gather extensive amounts of personal information about
the consumer. For organisations bound by the Australian Privacy Act, including the
Australian Privacy Principles, this presents a legal compliance risk that needs to be
balanced against the marketing strategy.
MOBILE APPS HAVE PRIVACY "ISSUES"
A global sweep of 1,200 mobile apps earlier this year by the found that the majority of
mobile apps have privacy issues.
Most of the apps included in the annual sweep seek to access the user's contact details, social
media accounts and other personal information, without providing the user with sufficient
information security protocols or properly advising the user of how their personal information
will be used (and how they can protect their privacy).
A similar picture was painted by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its recent
report on mobile shopping apps. The FTC found these apps often failed to clearly advise
consumers of how their personal information would be used or handled.
The recommendation of the GPEN, following its annual sweep, is that "clear, concise
information about privacy practices builds customer trust and is good for business". This
sentiment is echoed by the FTC and reflected in the OAIC's privacy guidance for mobile app
developers in the OAIC's " Mobile privacy: a better practice guide for mobile app
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developers". (Although the OAIC Guide was developed prior to the privacy law reforms
earlier this year, it still provides useful guidance as to better privacy practice for mobile app
developers and providers.)
PRIVACY BEST PRACTICE FOR MOBILE APPS
If you're looking to develop or use a mobile app to interact with consumers in Australia, and
you're bound by the Australian Privacy Act1, you will need to:
1. AVOID OVER-COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION
The golden rule: "if you don't need to know, don't collect it". This goes hand-in hand with
another golden rule: "the more you know, the more you're responsible for". Some tips:

Avoid collecting sensitive information (such as health information) through the app, if
possible.
If you're using WiFi analytics or the app seeks to access the user's personal information (such
as the user's location, MAC address/IP address, social media accounts, camera and
contacts), consider whether you really need all this data and how the user can turn off these
functions.

2. CONDUCT A PRIVACY RISK ASSESSMENT AS PART OF THE PLANNING PHASE

Understand how the data will flow through your organisation (the "data lifecycle"). This
means knowing what personal information the app collects, what you'll do with it, where
the data goes, how it is stored and your processes for deleting data at the end of its lifecycle.
If you're intending to use the mobile app to send direct marketing or you will share personal
information collected through the app with others (particularly where they are overseas),
ensure you can do so lawfully and be transparent about this in your privacy policy.
Conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment to help you map the data lifecycle. It will highlight
privacy risk "hotspots" and whether your data handling processes need updating.

3. BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT DATA IS BEING COLLECTED

Provide the user with:

clear Terms of Use that deal with privacy, prior to the app being downloaded (or first
launched) that are easy to find and to understand; and
easy access to your privacy policy and collection notice. This should be up-to-date and set
out (in plain English) what personal information the mobile app collects and how you will
handle that personal information (see APPs 1 and 5 for further detail). If you must link to
another site that hosts your privacy policy, ensure the link works and can be accessed
through the app.

4. TAILOR YOUR PRIVACY POLICY, COLLECTION NOTICE AND OTHER PRIVACY-RELATED

COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SMALL-SCREEN
The OAIC's Guide contains an extensive list of recommendations for meeting the "small
screen" challenge. This includes:
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incorporating short form notices for privacy policies that are no longer than a single screen
(if possible);
drawing the users' attention to any collection, use or disclosure of information that they
would not otherwise reasonably expect; and
using pop-ups, layered information and just-in-time notification to inform users of potential
collections or uses of personal information when they are about to happen.

5. ADOPT A "PRIVACY-BY-DESIGN" APPROACH, WHEREVER POSSIBLE

This means building in privacy and security settings into the app's architecture from the
beginning, rather than trying to "bolt it on" later.
6. HAVE A WRITTEN CONTRACT IN PLACE WITH YOUR MOBILE APP DEVELOPER
The contract should reflect your privacy compliance (as well as commercial, technical and
legal) requirements, such as the required privacy features and settings. It should also deal
with the level of access the developer will have to consumer data collected through the app (if
any) during development and testing and on completion.
The bottom line is, if you're using a mobile app to engage with consumers in Australia or to
otherwise collect personal information, then you will need to ensure it complies with the
Australian Privacy Principles.
You must be transparent about what personal information you're collecting and your privacy
practices, as well as complying with your other privacy obligations under the Australian
Privacy Principles. The risk of non-compliance could be a fine of up to $1.7 million for an
organisation, which would put a big hole in any marketing budget.
Footnote
1

This may include a foreign company, if there is an "Australia link" in accordance with s5B of the Privacy Act
1988 (Cth).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter.
Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

JAYANTA GHOSH