Online Privacy: Can the U.S. Get Its Act Together?

On May 10 executives from Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) participated in the time-tested Washington ritual of a congressional grilling. Alarmed by revelations that smartphones store data on users' locations, legislators demanded details on the companies' privacy policies. "Consumers have a fundamental right to know what data is being collected about them," said Minnesota Democrat Al Franken, who called the hearing. "They have a right to decide whether they want to share that information, with whom they want to share it, and when."

Alan Davidson, Google's director of public policy, and Apple's vice-president for software technology, Bud Tribble, defended their employers' handling of user-location information and said the companies do not track individual customers.