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  •   over 11 years ago

legal requirements

could someone please outline the rules and regulations that a developer might want to be aware of when creating an app for this challenge? 

  • 3 comments

  • Manager   •   over 11 years ago

    See: http://challenge.gov/challenges/199/rules or click just click the "rules" tab

  •   •   over 11 years ago

    These are rules for participating in the competition. While useful, they're not what I'm getting at. Earlier this week I read that the parent company of Broken Thumbs Apps—a prominent iOS app maker settled with the Federal Trade Commission over its apparent collection of children's personal data in its iPhone and iPod touch apps. Apparently he FTC has gone after other companies for similar violations, this case is the first focused on mobile apps. What Federal rules or regulations would you recommend that developers be wary of? I assume this will be part of your ultimate judging criteria.

  • Manager   •   over 11 years ago

    Thank you again for your inquiry. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA; 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6508) is a federal law enacted by Congress and enforced by FTC. Solution providers should abide by this law along with other relevant laws. It is the responsibility of developers to be aware of and abide by all federal, state and local laws. Finalist and winning applications will go through an internal verification process.

    For information about the considerations for personal health information (including COPPA), visit: http://business.ftc.gov/privacy-and-security. If patient information is being considered, HHS provides guidance on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) at the following website: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/.

    As the baseline expectation for applications submitted to this challenge is a prototype, additional development would be necessary before the application could be available for distribution. For applications that are ready for market/distribution, the intellectual property will belong to the developers as specified in the “Rules” section. It is recommended that developers seek legal consultation prior to making their applications available for distribution or marketing.

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