Lawmakers must create online privacy standards for companies...
Lawmakers must create online privacy standards for companies because industry self-regulation efforts have “stalled,” said six consumer groups in a joint news release Monday. “We'll need legislation to get this done,” said the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer…
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Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and U.S. PIRG, in a joint statement. “Industry has had no real incentive to agree to a meaningful standard. … We've spent 18 months and self-regulation is not working.” The groups stumped for the Do-Not-Track Online Act (S-418), introduced in March by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. (CD March 1 p11). “Now is the time for legislative action and we welcome the senators’ commitment to getting Do Not Track done.” The bill would require all online companies to minimize data collection about citizens’ browsing habits once requested by the consumer, require online companies to destroy or anonymize individual browsing data once it’s no longer needed and enable the FTC to pursue enforcement actions against any violators. The consumer groups also said legislation is needed to implement a consumer privacy bill of rights. The remarks came ahead of the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in 253 Russell to examine the status of the industry’s work on do-not-track standards. Scheduled to testify at the hearing are: Harvey Anderson, Mozilla senior vice president-business and legal affairs; Justin Brookman, director-Center for Democracy and Technology’s project on consumer privacy; Luigi Mastria, managing director of the Digital Advertising Alliance; and Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow at George Mason University.