On Friday, February 1, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a staff report recommending best practices for mobile privacy disclosures. The report, available here, reviews the benefits and privacy risks of mobile technologies and recommends ways to inform consumers about data collection and access practices.

The report does not propose rules but provides “recommendations.” Citing the rapid growth in mobile services and users’ growing privacy concerns, the report makes the following recommendations for four categories of industry participants: (1) platforms (i.e., mobile operating systems such as Apple and Google); (2) app developers; (3) third parties such as ad networks; and (4) app trade associations. It also recommends that carriers, handset manufacturers and chip makers review and carefully consider the recommendations.

Please see full alert below for more information.