April 12, 2012

VIA E-MAIL AND FACSIMILE The Honorable Henry A. Waxman Ranking Member Committee on Energy & Commerce United States House of Representatives 2125 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-6115 The Honorable G.K. Butterfield Ranking Member Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Committee on Energy & Commerce United States House of Representatives 2125 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-6115 Dear Ranking Members Waxman and Butterfield: This firm represents Banjo, Inc. (Banjo), and we are writing in response to your March 22, 2012 request for information addressed to Mr. Damien Patton, Chief Executive Officer of Banjo. Courtesy copies of this response have also been sent to Committee Chairman Upton and Subcommittee Chairman Bono Mack. What Banjo Does In June 2011, Banjo was released with the goal of promoting deeper interpersonal connections.1 By using location-based information that users share through the Banjo app and other social media service providers, Banjo alerts its users when their friends are nearby, allows users to explore what other people in any part of the world are saying and are interested in, and lets users search geotagged updates and pictures across social networks. Banjos Leadership in Privacy and Security Banjo was designed with privacy and security in mind. First, Banjo never transmits or stores a users iPhone Contacts data to its servers. In designing Banjos Invite featurewhich allows
1

As recounted on Banjos website, Banjo founder Damien Patton was in the Boston airport waiting for a flight to Vegas. A buddy he hadnt seen in years was waiting for a different flight just one gate over. Damien tweeted. His friend checked in. Both posted about their locations, yet they missed connecting simply because they were using different social networks. Thats when Damien got the idea for Banjo. See http://ban.jo/about/.

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The Honorable Henry A. Waxman The Honorable G.K. Butterfield April 12, 2012 Page 2 users to invite their iPhone contacts to join BanjoBanjo made the decision to not transmit or import Contacts data to its servers, but instead to have such invitations sent from the users iPhone (through the iOS Mail or Messages app), without Banjos servers having access to the users Contacts data. And the app puts users on notice of this: at the top of the Invite page, the app saysand has always saidBanjo Does Not Store Your Contacts. Second, unlike many location-based social discovery apps, Banjo strictly maintains the privacy settings of its users social networks, so that posts are shared with the intended audience only. Banjo shows its users posts from various social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Instagram. Importantly, a post appears on Banjo only if (i) the person who posted it has chosen to include location information in his or her post, and (ii) that persons privacy filters have allowed the Banjo user to see the post. In other words, depending on the privacy filters of the user on the social network used to post, the posts may be visible to the public generally, or to select individuals only. Third, Banjo does not store a users Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, or Gmail password. Instead, when a user first uses Banjo, the user chooses one or more other social networks to use with the app. The user is then referred to the social network itself, which specifically asks the user if he or she would like to authorize Banjo to access certain data from that social network. If the user agrees, then Banjo is authorized to access the users posts and other information from the other social networkbut, as mentioned above, Banjo will only use that information consistent with the privacy settings from the originating social network. Finally, Banjo has always been serious about privacy. It published its privacy policy on the date the app was launchedJune 22, 2011and has continually communicated with its users about privacy. For example, on March 30, 2012, Banjo communicated that it takes user privacy seriously and only shows content that is geotagged. . . . Banjo always maintains the privacy settings you have already set through another network and will never reveal the location of your last social post unless you have it set to do so. It then advised users to check their privacy settings: Keep in mind, many people choose to link another social post to Twitter. Be sure to check privacy on both networks. If your posts are private on one, they may be public on another. See http://ban.jo/blog/how-do-i-show-up-on-banjo/. Answers to Questions 1. Through the end of February 2012, how many times was your iOS app downloaded from Apples App Store? Banjo is a very popular app, and Apple has featured it consistently in the App Store. Banjo has not yet publicly released data about the number of downloads. We would be glad to discuss this question further with you and your staff.

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The Honorable Henry A. Waxman The Honorable G.K. Butterfield April 12, 2012 Page 3 2. Did you have a privacy policy in place for your iOS app at the end of February 2012? If so, please tell us when your iOS app was first made available in Apples App Store and when you first had a privacy policy in place. In addition, please describe how that policy is made available to your app users and please provide a copy of the most recent policy. Banjos privacy policy has been in place since the app became publicly available on June 22, 2011. To ensure that Banjo users have full access to its privacy policy, it is available on Banjos website (see http://ban.jo/privacy-terms-of-use/). A printed copy is enclosed. 3. Has your iOS app at any time transmitted information from or about a users address book? If so, what fields? Also, please describe all measures taken to protect or secure that information during storage and the periods of time during which those measures were in effect. Banjo has never transmitted or stored any information from or about a users Contacts. As discussed above, Banjo operates by gathering information from third-party social-media sites, and Banjo made a conscious decision in designing the app to not access data from its users Contacts. 4. Have you at any time stored information from or about a users address book? If so, which field? Also, please describe all measures taken to protect or secure that information during storage and the periods of time during which those measures were in effect. As noted in our response to the previous question, Banjo does not transmit or store any information from or about a users Contacts. 5. At any time, has your iOS app transmitted or have you stored any other information from or about a users deviceincluding, but not limited to, the users phone number, email account information, calendar, photo gallery, WiFi connection log, the Unique Device Identifier (UDID), a Media Access Control (MAC) address, or other identifier unique to a specific device? Since Banjo is a location-based app, one of its core functionsfinding friends near you depends upon access to a users location. Banjo obtains that information from two sources: (i) from third-party providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram, but only after the user opts in by authorizing Banjo to access his or her social media information in the manner described above; and (ii) from the users iPhone, but only after the user opts in by turning on Location Services in iOSs Settings, and authorizing Banjo to use iOSs Location Services.

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The Honorable Henry A. Waxman The Honorable G.K. Butterfield April 12, 2012 Page 4 Banjo does not transmit or store the users phone number, email account information, calendar, photo gallery, or WiFi connection log. (If a user decides to post a photo through Banjo, that photo will transit Banjos system and may be stored on its servers, of course.) As discussed in Banjos privacy policy, Banjos servers gather certain information about app usage, including UDIDs and IP addresses, which it uses for certain limited purposes, including to provide individualized service to a user that may be experiencing a problem with the app, to make sure that a user is receiving the correct Banjo notifications based upon the devices location, and to share with a third-party analytics providers to better understand how users are using Banjo. (While we do not currently use MAC addresses, third-party analytics providers we have used may have transmitted MAC addresses to their servers. Banjo, however, has not received or kept MAC address data on its servers.) 6. To the extent you store any address book information or any of the information in question 5, please describe all purposes for which you store or use that information, the length of time for which you keep it, and your policies regarding sharing of that information. Banjo does not transmit or store any information from or about a users Contacts. As discussed in Banjos privacy policy, Banjo uses UDIDs and IP addresses to enhance user experience in a number of ways, including to provide individualized service to a user that may be experiencing a problem with the app, and to make sure that a user is receiving the correct Banjo notifications based on the devices location. This data is also shared with third-party service providers that provide analytics, maintain Banjos databases, and produce bug reports for Banjo. Banjo only shares this data to enhance user experience; it only shares this data with companies engaged by Banjo to assist it in running and enhancing the service. Banjo never sells this data. 7. To the extent you store any address book information or any of the information in question 5, please describe all notices delivered to users on the mobile device screen about your collection and use practices both prior to and after February 8, 2012. When a user first uses Banjo, the user chooses one or more other social networks to use with the app. The user is then referred to the social network itself, which specifically asks the useron the iPhones screenif he or she would like to authorize Banjo to access certain data from that social network. If the user agrees, then Banjo is authorized to access the users posts and other information from the other social networkbut, as mentioned above, Banjo will only use that information consistent with the privacy settings from the originating social network. Also, users are prompted on the devices screen to accept or reject the use of push notifications and location services. 8. The iOS Developer Program License Agreement detailing the obligations and responsibilities of app developers reportedly states that a developer and its applications

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The Honorable Henry A. Waxman The Honorable G.K. Butterfield April 12, 2012 Page 5 may not collect user or device data without prior user consent, and then only to provide a service or function that is directly relevant to the use of the Application or to serve advertising. (a) Please describe all data available from Apple mobile devices that you understand to be user data requiring prior consent from the user to be collected. (b) Please describe all data available from Apple mobile devices that you understand to be device data requiring prior consent from the user to be collected. (c) Please describe all services or functions for which user or device data is directly relevant to the use of your application. Banjo has complied with Apples guidelines and terms of service regarding the collection of data by not accessing, transmitting or storing Contacts information, user IDs or passwords for any social networks the user links to Banjo, the users phone number, email account information, calendar, photo gallery, or WiFi connection log. Information that Banjo does usesuch as location, UDID, and IP addressare disclosed in Banjos privacy policy or in the app itself. 9. Please list all industry self-regulatory organizations to which you belong. Banjo does not currently belong to any such organizations. * * *

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The Honorable Henry A. Waxman The Honorable G.K. Butterfield April 12, 2012 Page 6 From its inception, Banjo was designed to provide the best location-based social discovery service on the market, while robustly protecting user privacy in the many ways described above. We appreciate the opportunity to answer these questions about Banjo. Very truly yours,

Gus P. Coldebella Enclosure cc: Mr. Damien Patton Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Banjo, Inc. The Honorable Fred Upton Chairman, Committee on Energy & Commerce The Honorable Mary Bono Mack Chairman, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Committee on Energy & Commerce

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