Question- Why do mobile applications (those handy little apps which do everything from serving news to finding places to eat) need their own individual privacy policies?
Answer- Without a clearly defined privacy policy, which outlines the collection and usage of user data, the methods used to track user information and the like; a mobile app can pretty much use any of the information on your smart phone for what ever purpose they are want.
Whether it is the unique identifier of your cell phone or your geo location or your gender, any of this information is up for grabs, without a privacy policy. Essentially there is no rule which binds the apps and hence no clear way of assigning liability.
The Future of Privacy Forum, conducted a survey of the top 30 paid mobile applications and found that nearly 2/3 of them, lacked a basic privacy policy.