Apple smartphones and Google might face strict regulation in Europe after a data protection panel ruled that location information collected by the devices should be classified as personal data, media report stated.
This is likely to mean tighter constraints on how location data can be collected and stored by smartphone companies, telecom operators and any businesses hoping to run location-related services on phones, the report said.
"Since smartphones and tablet computers are inextricably linked to their owner, the movement patterns of the devices provide a very intimate insight into the private life of the owners," the Financial Times quoted the panel as saying.
The report said the proposals are a first step toward formulating a law on mobile phone location data and could be written into Europe's revised Data Protection Directive this year.
The proposals by the panel, which advises the European Commission, are a first step to formulating a law on mobile phone location data, and could be written into Europe's revised Data Protection Directive this year, the FT said.
The panel said companies should get permission from smartphone users before collecting user-location data and should specify what purpose the data are being used for.
