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The advertising industry is at a crossroads. As consumers spend increasing time on their mobile devices playing games, texting friends, searching for information and devouring entertainment, advertisers have embraced, though struggled with, this new medium given the challenges presented by the small screen. But as important as reaching consumers on their mobile devices might be, the greater opportunity for advertisers might be learning more about their customers by tracking where they go and how much time they spend shopping.

Enter mobile tracking. But tread carefully.

Mobile tracking information can be incredibly valuable because it doesn’t lie. But since this information reveals where consumers come and go, how much time they spend in various locations, and may be collected without the consumer’s knowledge, lawmakers, regulators and privacy advocates consider this information to be even more sensitive than user-provided personally identifiable information and thus deserving of heightened scrutiny. Even mobile platforms such as Apple and Google acknowledge the sensitive nature of geo-location data and accordingly require apps to obtain a user’s permission before collecting this information. Several trade groups have established best practices for geo-tracking and even consumer protection regulators like the Federal Trade Commission have chimed in on what their expectations are for companies in this ecosystem. But to date, there are no specific laws governing these practices.

Continue reading at AdAge.com