Contact: Eben Burnham-Snyder, Rep. Ed Markey, 202-225-2836

WASHINGTON (February 22, 2013) – Last year, Rep. Markey, Co-Chair of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, and Diana DeGette (D-CO), introduced H.R. 6377, “The Mobile Device Privacy Act”, legislation requiring companies to disclose to consumers the presence of monitoring software on their mobile devices and receive consumers’ permission prior to monitoring.

“With this important settlement, the FTC has sent a strong signal to the mobile marketplace that consumers’ sensitive information must be safeguarded,” said Rep. Markey.  “Consumers should know and have the ability to say ‘No’ to software on their mobile devices that is surreptitiously sending their personal data.  I introduced legislation last Congress to provide greater transparency into the sending of consumers’ personal information and empower consumers to prevent such transfer.  I plan to reintroduce the bill this Congress.”