Given the personal nature of mobile as well as its ability to collect data about users, 2012 will be a perilous time as the industry faces growing scrutiny around mobile privacy from regulators.

The mobile industry could see greater enforcement around mobile privacy this year on a couple of different fronts, including location-based data and privacy policies for children. In an interview with Mobile Marketer, director of The Future of Privacy Forum Jules Polonetsky talks about why privacy is such an important issue in 2012.

?The reason I think privacy is going to be critical to mobile is that we are seeing such robust use of data,? Mr. Polonetsky said. ?We are starting to see companies emerging that are appending third-party data, tracking users across many apps and integrating smarter uses of location.

?Making sure that users feel mobile devices are becoming more useful to them and are not tracking them is important,? he said. ?We cannot afford for consumers to have a nagging sense of lack of control for a device that is so personal.

?People already feel this way about their PCs but they tolerate it. It seems less likely that people will tolerate a device that is in their pocket as being anything less than something they are in control of.?

One specific areas of focus is likely to be reaching children via mobile devices, with the Federal Trade Commission expected to address how children use mobile apps and smartphones. New rules or guidelines could significantly impact mobile marketing.

Location-based services and apps will also be an important part of the discussion surrounding mobile and privacy in 2012 as the need for geo-based information to provide certain mobile services clashes with consumer desire for privacy.

Below, Mr. Polonetksy addresses what will be the top five privacy issues facing the mobile industry in 2012.

What are the challenges in mobile privacy? 
Folks are struggling to figure out what identifiers should be used because there are no ubiquitous cookies in mobile as there are for desktop. This has helped create an infrastructure for desktop that provides controls for users.

In mobile, people have cobbled together what they can but the opt-out framework is not there. People are looking for digital fingerprints, something that allows tracking and gives users a choice.

It is important to address this issue because the data is there, people are building databases. But, to opt out today in mobile can be challenging.

In some cases, you have to copy the 40 character unique identifier code for a phone and submit it.

What is the mood in Washington towards mobile and privacy?
On the Hill, everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats because we expect the release of two major privacy documents in the upcoming weeks and months. This could be the first time any White House has gone on record supporting a comprehensive privacy law.

Previously, the White House supported self-regulation for everything other than healthcare and financial services The White House is expected to endorse a privacy framework that would see stakeholders in specific sectors coming up with self-regulation.

If the Federal Trade Commission thinks the rules determined by a sector are adequate, it would endorse them and have the authority to enforce them as if they were law.

How might any changes to COPPA affect mobile companies? 
The FTC has proposed an update to Children?s Online Privacy Protection Act. Folks were worried that they would raise the age but they are keeping the age at 13. The FTC is proposing changes around tracking on a children?s Web site that deems the information personal, so children would need a parent?s permission.

If you are going to collect personal information from those who are under the age of 13, you are going to have to get permission.

The FTC has said it does not think mobile is any different from the Web when it comes to privacy policies. They do not care what kind of device is used, they are complaining about Web site privacy policies and that covers any place, including mobile.

We are already seeing some companies that track mobile and Web usage dropping kid?s sites because suddenly it is too risky.

What do marketers need to know about location and privacy?
Location services are one of the big trends in mobile this year but, are these services likely to run afoul of regulators? How is location being shared is that something that needs to be resolved.

If I am an app developer and I don?t need location for my service, should I be asking for location? If I am asking just for the ads, should I be making that clear to users?

If I do have geographic integration, can I give the information to my ad network and let them use it and sell it?

There is not yet a good set of rules for what you can do with location to make advertising more effective and this is where companies are going to invite controversy.

Companies should not sell and trade away this information so that other services can build a profile of where a user has been over time. Let us make the ad smarter for the user but let us not lose control of the user?s history.

What's the best way to do mobile-friendly privacy policies?
Some companies are working on these issues. Google apps enable users to request that AdMob not track their behavior while the iPhone gives users an option to not send their location to iAds.

There are still some problems around executing privacy policies in mobile, however. For example, an app developer who wants to provide a privacy policy might have a hard time doing so in the Apple Store because of the way the content is controlled.

There is a whole range of issues around giving notice adequately, having a privacy-friendly way to tailor ads and good practices around location that the Direct Marketing Association and the Mobile Marketing Association are working on.

In a recent survey, we found that free apps were twice as responsible as paid apps in terms of having privacy policies. Free apps, because they are ad supported, are more likely to be explaining this to users with a privacy policy.

Overall, there is still a low rate of mobile app developers that have privacy policies.

If you do have a privacy policy, make sure it is easily findable.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York