Privacy is a crucial issue for most of the advertising driven companies we invest in. Many of our companies have been in the forefront of ensuring that not only do they take the proper care of the data, they also make their policies transparent to interested users.
As mobile apps become increasingly relevant, what happens to consumer data from these devices becomes equally important. A solid, updated privacy policy is crucial to control the risk of mismanaging data, especially considering the recent regulatory developments. While many developers want to do right by their users, there are not a lot of resources out there to help them figure out how.
Now, First Round portfolio company Docracy presents an open-source privacy policy for mobile apps: http://www.docracy.com/mobileprivacy/ As with all the legal documents on Docracy, it’s Github like structure lets developers branch the document (i.e., make a public copy that will maintain a relationship with the original, and publicly show what’s changed) to customize it for their application.
I like Docracy’s initiative because offers a practical solution: three different versions covering the most common types of policies to provide a sensible, fair starting point for app developers. Like a Github of legal documents, Docracy’s founders have 6 years of experience in building mobile apps, and they know how much easier life would be for app creators if public standards could be established.
I’d encourage developers to take a look, and incorporate some form of privacy policy in their mobile applications. The gatekeepers are starting to enforce standards that will make all that necessary, and Docracy is trying to make it simple.
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