Updates on Developments in Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
As we previously described, the White House recently released a landmark privacy report, entitled Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World, which outlines key privacy principles in its “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” and calls on the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) to work with industry and…
Continue Reading NTIA Announces Meeting to Develop Mobile Transparency Code
Today, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing to seek the views of the Federal Trade Commission and the Administration on privacy issues. Discussion at the hearing, entitled “The Need for Privacy Protections: Perspectives from the Administration and the Federal Trade Commission,” focused in significant part on the privacy reports recently released by the FTC and the Administration.
Committee Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) introduced the hearing by calling for “strong legal protections” and “simple and easy to understand rules” about information collection. He called for “strong, consumer-focused” privacy legislation this year, though conceded that no consensus about such legislation exists yet. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) also voiced support for privacy legislation. In contrast, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) expressed skepticism about new legislation, calling for a detailed cost/benefit analysis and identification of a specific market failure prior to any new regulation.Continue Reading Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Privacy Reports
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sought public comment Wednesday on how to begin the process of developing voluntary codes of conduct governing consumer privacy, as called for in the privacy framework released by the White House last month.
That report argues that companies should follow seven basic principles — a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights — when collecting, using, or disclosing consumers’ personal data. These principles are: individual control; transparency; respect for context; security; access and accuracy; focused collection; and accountability.
The framework calls on Congress to codify the general principles through legislation while stakeholders develop voluntary codes of conduct to implement the principles in particular sectors. The framework tasks the NTIA with setting up an open process in which all interested stakeholders — including companies, consumer advocates, and government officials — would develop conduct codes by consensus.Continue Reading NTIA Seeks Comment on Beginning Conduct-Code Discussions
The White House released a report today containing its “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights,” referring to the new privacy framework as a “comprehensive blueprint to protect individual privacy rights and give users more control over how their information is handled.” The report is entitled “Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked…
Continue Reading White House Releases “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights”
