The premise that "no one reads privacy policies" is wrong and unfortunately undermines the entire argument. While only a handful may read privacy policies, it does make a difference -- in fact, they *have* made a difference. I never read FB's policies, but I was alerted to what was there by others who had. A sufficient number of us were alerted and Zuckerberg was forced to back down.
Another reason to require privacy policies is that could potentially be used as a basis for a class action lawsuit, which can happen even if literally no one in the class read the policy. Without a policy, there can be no breach of policy and therefore no actionable claim.
Yet another reason is that it's conceivable that some smart kid might come up with an app that checks privacy policies and alerts the user of potential danger prior to download. That can't happen unless the privacy policies exist.
It's true that one-person app operations have little incentive to adhere to their policies, but the bigger players do and this proposal does help (in a small way) to keep them honest.
I know that it's easier to make generalities about politicians or ad hominem on Franken, but it doesn't bolster anyone's position to completely ignore arguments in favor of this proposal. I'd love to hear about the stuff "that actually matters."
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Some do read privacy policies
The premise that "no one reads privacy policies" is wrong and unfortunately undermines the entire argument. While only a handful may read privacy policies, it does make a difference -- in fact, they *have* made a difference. I never read FB's policies, but I was alerted to what was there by others who had. A sufficient number of us were alerted and Zuckerberg was forced to back down.
Another reason to require privacy policies is that could potentially be used as a basis for a class action lawsuit, which can happen even if literally no one in the class read the policy. Without a policy, there can be no breach of policy and therefore no actionable claim.
Yet another reason is that it's conceivable that some smart kid might come up with an app that checks privacy policies and alerts the user of potential danger prior to download. That can't happen unless the privacy policies exist.
It's true that one-person app operations have little incentive to adhere to their policies, but the bigger players do and this proposal does help (in a small way) to keep them honest.
I know that it's easier to make generalities about politicians or ad hominem on Franken, but it doesn't bolster anyone's position to completely ignore arguments in favor of this proposal. I'd love to hear about the stuff "that actually matters."