Rush Says House Subcommittees Will Soon Review Privacy Bill
House subcommittees dealing with privacy issues plan to review a draft comprehensive bill by Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., at their next hearing on the subject, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush, D-Ill. At a hearing on location-based services Wednesday, Rush promised “our next hearing on privacy will be a legislative hearing.” Rules on location-based services will be part of the larger privacy bill, Boucher said. Republicans said they need to see the draft bill, and warned that any legislation must balance consumer privacy with industry innovation and public safety needs.
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Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he has talked with Boucher about privacy legislation but hasn’t been able to read the proposal. “I understand the possibility that we could get this draft bill,” Stearns said. “We have not seen it on this side. We urge you to give it to us.”
Location-based services are “inherently more invasive and threatening to consumer welfare, and perhaps even more challenging to consumer privacy than behavioral advertising,” Rush said. “Location-based applications and services are springing up each day like wildfire. Yesterday there was Facebook, and in the not-so-distant future we will be encountering something more akin to a ‘Placebook.'” Location-based apps and services are expected to add more than 80 million North American users over the next three years, said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
But Stearns said “Congress should not legislate in a way that is restrictive of technology development or that unfairly targets one industry over another.” Rules on using location information apply to carriers but not application developers. “Although there are certainly numerous privacy concerns that must be taken into account, we must also keep in mind the tremendous benefit these technologies provide to consumers.” Companies’ privacy policies should be transparent and “provide a consumer with an informed choice regarding whether to permit access to his or her location-based information,” he said.
Location-based services provide “great benefit” to first responders in emergencies, said Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. Telecom providers should be required to give to public safety agencies information about location in emergencies, he said.
Privacy advocates supported legislation on location-based services as part of a larger privacy bill. Congress shouldn’t impose stronger privacy protections on some technologies than others, said General Counsel John Morris of the Center for Democracy & Technology. Executives of developers of location-based apps said the same privacy rules should apply to carriers and others. But the rules don’t need to be in statutes, said General Manager Tony Bernard of Useful Networks.
Wireless favors industry self-regulation to protect consumer privacy, said CTIA General Counsel Michael Altschul. But Congress should extend to all providers of location-based service a law requiring carriers to give consumers notice and get permission before using their information commercially, he said. CTIA created a set of best practices and all of its members are abiding by it, Altschul said. The association is updating the guidelines to keep up with fast-moving technology, he said. “While the new guidelines have yet to be finalized, rest assured they will balance public safety’s needs with consumers’ privacy,” Altschul said after the hearing.
Boucher urged CTIA to “sharpen” its guidelines to deal with gaps identified by privacy experts. “Consider modifying your guidelines … so they provide more clarity to the carriers, particularly on what kinds of disclosures the carriers should make with regard to services and the information they come in contact with.” CTIA “absolutely” will consider that, Altschul said.
The hearing involved a new lineup of Republicans. The House Commerce Committee late Tuesday approved a resolution by Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, naming Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., as the new ranking member of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee, replacing Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., who recently announced that he is not running for re-election. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, replaced Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., as the Oversight Subcommittee’s ranking member. And Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Ala., who recently switched parties, joined the committee. He will sit on the Oversight, Energy and Communications subcommittees. Walden left for a Republican leadership position.