Tech@FTC

Let's continue our discussion of "anonymous" data by talking about pseudonyms.

A pseudonym is any kind of identifier, other than a name, that is associated with a person or (what often amounts to the same thing) a device.  Pseudonyms are very common.   Examples include the random ID value in a tracking cookie; a device ID such as a WiFi MAC address or a phone's UDID; a synthetic identifier such as an "OpenUDID"; a mobile phone number; or a Twitter handle.

One of the top-level recommendations of the FTC privacy report was greater transparency about the data practices of companies and technologies.   The report pointed to mobile apps as especially needing better transparency.   Indeed, a previous FTC staff report on mobile apps for kids found that hardly any of the apps that were studied offered full privacy disclosures.

Today the FTC is releasing a major report on privacy.   Privacy geeks will read the whole thing–and should, because it represents a lot of careful thinking by folks in the agency.

But if you’re a techie who doesn’t have time to read it all, let me point you to a few of the parts you’ll probably find most interesting.