All watched over by machines of loving grace…and Steve Jobs?

This post has been sitting in our draft folder since April but with Apple and Google preparing for a mobile advertising battle we figured we would update it a bit and publish.

All watched over by machines of loving grace.

Several years ago Adam Greenfield wrote an article titled, “All watched over by machines of loving grace: Some ethical guidelines for user experience in ubiquitous-computing settings”. Adam provided some general principles for us to observe as designers and developers. We always keep these guidelines nearby. Here they are.

• Principle 0, Is, of course, first, do no harm.
• Principle 1. Default to harmlessness. Ubiquitous systems must default to a mode that ensures their users’ (physical, psychic and financial) safety.
• Principle 2. Be self-disclosing. Ubiquitous systems must contain provisions for immediate and transparent querying of their ownership, use, capabilities, etc., such that human beings encountering them are empowered to make informed decisions regarding exposure to same.
• Principle 3. Be conservative of face. Ubiquitous systems are always already social systems, and must contain provisions such that wherever possible they not unnecessarily embarrass, humiliate, or shame their users.
• Principle 4. Be conservative of time. Ubiquitous systems must not introduce undue complications into ordinary operations.
• Principle 5. Be deniable. Ubiquitous systems must offer users the ability to opt out, always and at any point.

What do these ethical guidelines have to do with Steve Jobs and Apple?

Along with Apple’s announcement of iPhone OS 4 in March the iPhone Developer Agreement was updated to restrict how device data is shared between applications and 3rd parties so to improve consumer privacy. Some have argued that Apple really doesn’t care about consumer privacy and that the intention of this update was to cripple competition to iAds, specifically Google. While that may be an outcome, the agreement changes could also be interpreted to represent a step by Apple to watch over their carefully crafted user experience and coveted, insanely loyal consumer base.

Our mapping of the ethical guidelines above and the updated iPhone Developer Agreement.

Updated Section 3.3.9 of the iPhone Developer Agreement.

3.3.9 The following requirements apply to You and Your Application’s use, collection, processing, maintenance, uploading, syncing, storage, transmission, sharing and disclosure of User Data:

• All use of User Data collected or obtained through an Application must be limited to the same purpose as necessary to provide services or functionality for such Application. For example, the use of User Data collected on and used in a social networking Application could be used for the same purpose on the website version of that Application; however, the use of location-based User Data for enabling targeted advertising in an Application is prohibited unless targeted advertising is the purpose of such Application (e.g., a geo-location coupon application). - See Principle 4 above.
  
• You may only provide or disclose User Data to third parties as necessary for providing services or functionality for the Application that collected the User Data, and then only if You receive express user consent. For example, if Your Application would like to post a message from a user to a third party social networking site, then You may only share the message if the user has explicitly indicated an intention to share it by clicking or selecting a button or checking a box that clearly explains how the message will be shared. - See Principle 3 above.
  
• Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, Device Data may not be provided or disclosed to a third party without Apple’s prior written consent. Accordingly, the use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited. - See Principle 1 above.
  
• You must provide information to users regarding Your use and/or Transmission of User Data and explain how Your Application will use User Data, e.g., by providing information in the App Store marketing text that accompanies Your Application on the App Store, by adding an About box within Your Application, or by adding a link to Your privacy policy on Your website. - See Principle 2 above.
  
• You and the Application must take appropriate steps to protect any User Data from unauthorized disclosure or access. If a user ceases to consent to Your use and/or Transmission of User Data, You must promptly cease all such use and/or Transmission and destroy any such information from Your records (except to the limited extent necessary for Your Application back- ups and record-keeping or as otherwise prohibited by law). - See Principle 5 above.

Note: PercentMobile provides mobile analytics for Desktop/Mobile Sites and Web Apps delivered via a phone’s Web Browser and have chosen not to be distracted by Mobile Application Tracking. The availability of hundreds of thousands of apps is great, but our interest is currently focused on helping people understand the mobile ecosystem and  behavior/actions of the mobile audience to billions of desktop and mobile Web pages.