Pokémon Go Privacy Concerns Prompt Franken to Ask About Data Collected

Troubled over potential privacy implications with the popular new smartphone game Pokémon Go, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., Tuesday asked game creator Niantic to provide details about the data it's collecting from users. Franken, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary's Privacy and Technology Subcommittee, called the game's popularity “impressive” -- with 7.5 million downloads in the U.S. since its July 6 launch -- but added in a news release that "Niantic may be unnecessarily collecting, using, and sharing a wide range of users’ personal information without their appropriate consent." Pokémon Go is an "augmented reality app" that uses a mobile device to introduce animated creatures and activities into views of the real world, including a user's exact location, email and IP addresses, last website visited and/or Google accounts, said the release. Franken sent a letter to the San Francisco-based company asking several questions about the data collected by the app, whether it would support an opt-in option, user information shared with third parties and how it ensures that parents provide meaningful consent for their child's use. A phone message left with Niantic was not immediately returned.