WASHINGTON, DC – In response to a discussion draft of a new privacy bill currently under consideration by the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, ten leading privacy and consumer organizations today called for much stronger provisions to protect consumer privacy both online and off.
The groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, USPIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Privacy Lives, and the Center for Digital Democracy, raised their concerns in a letter to Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher and Ranking Member Cliff Stearns.
The letter suggests the bill should include the principle of not collecting more data than necessary, limiting how long data should be retained, and expanding the definition of what constitutes “sensitive information” beyond just medical records.
“Consumers online are being stealthily tracked, profiled and targeted by marketers — who are able to obtain personal information regarding their finances, health, ethnicity, and their families,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.
“The public should not be placed at risk as they grow to rely on the Internet and mobile phones when making purchases and searching for information.”
“The draft bill has served to launch the debate,” said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, “but substantial revisions are necessary to provide meaningful privacy protection for consumers. In its present form the bill would lock in a bankrupt ‘notice and choice’ model and offer few real protections. Enacting no legislation would be better than passing this flawed bill in its current form.”
“We’re tired of companies paying lip-service to privacy but using consumers’ personal information for whatever they want, without giving consumers any meaningful control,” said Susan Grant, director of Consumer Protection at Consumer Federation of America. “We need a law that forces companies to build respect for privacy into their business models, and we believe that they will ultimately benefit from increased consumer confidence.”
Read the proposed findings section of the groups’ letter here: Proposed findings
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Tags: DC, privacy bill, privacy groups
