Cloud Industry Devising Privacy Standards for Mobile Apps

In a move to discourage government regulation, a major cloud software association will partner with privacy groups and social media sites to establish protections for smartphone apps.

The 500-member Software and Information Industry Association announced on Thursday that it has joined a nonprofit working group to formulate industry standards for developing apps in a way that safeguards personal data. Cloud computing, a means of accessing information technology resources over the Internet, and mobile computing operate similarly. And, often, cloud software is more geared toward mobile devices than workstations.

"We can focus the software industry's attention on doing the right thing to protect personal information and to ensure continued growth and innovation in the mobile marketplace," SIIA Vice President Mark MacCarthy said of the group organized by The Future of Privacy Forum, in a statement. "We are joining this effort out of the conviction that the industry does not need government regulation to move us in the direction of providing a trusted environment for our users."