Category: Mobile Security

Mobile security attracts attention of FTC

Mobile security is a potential catastrophic problem, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection. The federal government has been pushing for more comprehensive mobile security measures to be put in place throughout the country. Mobile applications and the information they collect from consumers has, thus far, been the primary focus of the government’s mobile security concerns, with the FTC aiming to hold applications developers and companies responsible for the information that they collect.

FTC targeting companies collecting consumer information

The issue of mobile security has become more pronounced since the FTC filed a case against Compete, a search marketing firm. Compete uses technology to collect personal data from consumers using its services, without providing these consumers with information about how this data will be used. In the case,  the FTC has prohibited the company from collecting consumer information without the express consent of the consumer. The FTC also closed several cases against companies concerning the use of software that was being used to deliberately spy on consumers.

Google runs afoul of federal government

Google was also targeted by the FTC in late 2012 for circumventing the protocols of Apple’s Safari Internet browser to introduce users to targeted advertisements. The massive technology company was fined a record setting penalty of $22.5 million for breaching mobile security standards. FTC officials are likening the current state of the country’s mobile security practices to the “wild, wild west,” suggesting that many companies operating in the mobile space have little to no concern for mobile security.

Mobile security recommendations coming from the FTC

The FTC is currently developing recommendations concerning mobile security standards titled “Building Trust Through Transparency.” These recommendations are meant to help ensure the protection of consumer information, keeping this data safe from exploitation by marketers and similar groups. The initial recommendations will focus on companies collecting information from mobile consumers. In the future, the FTC will focus more closely on application developers, hoping to further bolster mobile security for consumers.

The software team based in Norway will be partnering with Neomobile out of Italy.

Opera Software has just announced that it will be working with Neomobile, a specialist in direct carrier billing, in order to provide the users of the Opera Mini browser to make one click mobile payments from their smartphones in order to make purchases of digital content.

The purchases can be made quickly and easily and the total amount is added to the user’s cell phone bill.

The company stated that there are over 208 million people who are already using the app in order to access the web. An additional 21 million are using Opera Mobile. The hope is that the new partnership will result in operator billing on the Opera Payment Exchange (OPX).

The OPX is a form of link among mobile payments billing systems and content publishers and providers.

According to Opera, it helps to make certain that mobile payments can be quickly and safely made in a simple and secure way over the Mini browser.

On the other hand, Neomobile is a company that offers mobile payments solutions, but it is also a worldwide mcommerce group. It provides the users of smartphones and tablets with content in a partnership between digital content services and producers, and carriers.

The new agreement between Opera and Neomobile was just announced, indicating the very first steps that the two companies would be taking together. At the moment, and for the first while, it will impact only the mcommerce group arm of the company. This means that the mobile payments can be used for purchasing music, games, video, and other types of digital content that can be downloaded or viewed from the device. It takes only one click for the direct carrier billing through the Mini browser, and it is available to consumers in eleven different countries.

For now, these mobile payments will not be available for actual physical goods that must be shipped to the consumer. It is applicable only to digital content that can be obtained right away through the use of the smartphone or tablet device.