• January 4, 2012

Mobile app developers appear more likely to offer privacy policies now than last year, according to a recent report by the Future of Privacy Forum.

The think tank recently surveyed top apps and found that 66% of the free apps and 33% of paid apps now have privacy policies. A survey released last May found that only 26% of paid mobile apps had policies governing personal data (that survey didn't address free apps).

Three-quarters of the free apps with privacy policies made the documents accessible in the app or through a link within the app. Half of the paid apps with privacy policies did the same. For the more recent study, released last week, the Future of Privacy Forum examined the top 10 free and paid mobile apps across the Android, iOS and BlackBerry platforms.

Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director of the industry-funded think tank, suggests that free apps are more likely to rely on advertising, and therefore, more likely to disclose how they use data than paid apps. --Wendy Davis