[author: Bob Scott]

The National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) today announced a multistakeholder meeting designed to create an industry code of conduct to provide transparency for mobile applications and other interactive mobile services. The meeting will be held July 12, 2012 in the national capital area. 

This is the first of several stakeholder workshops proposed by the Administration and endorsed by the FTC in its “Final Report” on consumer privacy discussed in detail in our March 27, 2012 advisory. The Administration proposed these industry-specific codes of conduct be developed through these proceedings, and that the resulting codes would be enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission. Privacy in the context of mobile apps received the greatest volume of comments in NTIA’s request for input on the privacy workshops proposed by the Administration.

This workshop, and the code of conduct it is intended to produce, is likely to affect the interests and operations of the entire mobile ecosystem: mobile carriers, mobile app developers, interactive service providers, and mobile app platform providers. NTIA asks that those who intend either to attend the meeting in person or to view the webcast inform NTIA before June 22, 2012 at this link. NTIA will use the information it received to determine space requirements for the meeting, and to arrange webcast technology. NTIA's announcement comes just weeks after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice seeking updated comments on the privacy and security of information stored on mobile service communications devices, as we highlighted when the notice issued.