The Grand Rapids Press 02/23/12 AP
“Obama Administration Seeks online privacy Rules”
The Obama administration is calling for stronger privacy protections for consumers as mobile gadgets, Internet services and other tools are able to do a better job of tracking what you do and where you go.
Administration officials outlined a proposed "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights" on Thursday and urged technology companies, consumer groups and others to jointly craft new protections. Such guidelines will initially be voluntary for companies, but those that agree to abide by them could be subject to sanctions for any violations.
How strong the protections will be ultimately depends on what rules the different parties involved can agree on.
Separately, the FTC has recommended the creation of a "Do Not Track" tool to let consumers curb advertisers from studying their online activity to target ads.
Although officials expect many companies will agree to the new codes, allowing them to use that commitment in marketing materials, the report also called on Congress to pass new laws to require remaining companies to adopt such guidelines. Until then, enforcement will be limited to companies that say they would abide by the codes but fail to do so.
I have a copy of the plan:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/privacy-final.pdf
The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights advances these objectives by holding that consumers have a right to:
• Individual Control
• Transparency
• Respect for Context
• Security
• Access and Accuracy
• Focused Collection
• Accountability
Government agencies also play a vital role in enforcing the privacy protections in codes of conduct. The FTC is the Federal Government’s leading consumer privacy enforcement authority. Enforcement actions by the FTC (and State Attorneys General) have established that companies failures to adhere to voluntary privacy commitment.
Accountability refers to a company’s capacity to demonstrate the implementation of enforceable policies and procedures relating to privacy (whether adopted voluntarily or as a result of legal obligations). Accountability mechanisms include self-assessments, evaluations, and audits.
Common Sense Review
When the Fed Govt says they are VITAL protecting our personal information or rights…RUN!
This makes my skin crawl.. The Obama Administration wants to create protection rules against companies misusing citizens personal information, they why can I see this as a slippery slope issue.
Last month Citizens were upset with SOPA, so how does the govt get around that. Create a warm fuzzy proclamation that is for the betterment of the people…
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