NTIA must make a bigger effort to provide for remote...
NTIA must make a bigger effort to provide for remote participation in the agency’s multistakeholder process to develop data privacy rules. The plea came Monday in a letter to NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling from a dozen privacy and consumer groups…
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(http://xrl.us/bndpea). The agency plans its first multistakeholder meeting July 12 with the aim of developing a privacy code of conduct for companies who handle personal consumer data. “For the multistakeholder process to have any chance of success, it must include meaningful remote participation based on robust, two-way communication,” the groups said. “To do less is to deny a real voice in the process for civil society.” The groups said it is “clearly impossible” for some consumer groups to participate in the agency’s meetings due to the financial burdens of sending representatives to Washington. They also denounced as “simply inadequate” NTIA’s decision to use its staff as a proxy to relay questions from out-of-town participants. To overcome this, the groups suggested that NTIA offer an audio bridge and an Internet relay chat to provide real time access and interaction with remote participants. The groups also suggested that the agency offer remote voting if any voting occurs, rather than proxy voting via agency staff. The letter was signed by representatives from the ACLU, the Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense Media, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, the Consumers Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times and U.S. PIRG. NTIA did not comment.