Advocacy groups urge expansion of privacy bill draft
In response to a discussion draft of a new privacy bill currently under consideration by the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, 10 privacy and consumer organizations this week called for much stronger provisions to protect consumer privacy, including personal health information, both online and off.
“[W]e believe that the bill’s definitions of what constitutes ‘sensitive information’ are too narrow,” read the letter to Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher and Ranking Member Cliff Sterns, who released the discussion draft. “‘[S]ensitive information’ under the bill includes ‘medical records, including medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a healthcare professional.’ However, this would not cover situations such as when a consumer researches cancer or another disease online. As that search is not part of ‘medical records,’ the information may be collected and used to make judgments about the consumer for any purpose, including employment or insurance."
The groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, U.S. PIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Privacy Lives, and the Center for Digital Democracy, wrote that the bill should require strict “opt-in” procedures for the collection and use of covered data and should prohibit the collection and use of any sensitive information except for the transactions for which consumers provided it.
“[Otherwise,] there must be some way to ensure that consumers have an easy way to opt-out of all such profiling through a federal Do Not Track registry,” the groups wrote.
“Consumers online are being 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.”
Recognizing that “[c]onsumers increasingly rely on the internet and other digital services for a wide range of transactions and services, many of which involve their most sensitive affairs, including health, financial, and other personal matters,” the groups’ letter also recommended that the bill should incorporate the Fair Information Practice Principles, including the principle of not collecting more data than is necessary for the stated purposes, limits on how long data should be retained and a right to access and correct one’s data.
“We are committed to working with you to achieve real privacy protection for consumers,” the letter concluded.
To view the discussion draft privacy bill, click here.
“[W]e believe that the bill’s definitions of what constitutes ‘sensitive information’ are too narrow,” read the letter to Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher and Ranking Member Cliff Sterns, who released the discussion draft. “‘[S]ensitive information’ under the bill includes ‘medical records, including medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a healthcare professional.’ However, this would not cover situations such as when a consumer researches cancer or another disease online. As that search is not part of ‘medical records,’ the information may be collected and used to make judgments about the consumer for any purpose, including employment or insurance."
The groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, U.S. PIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Privacy Lives, and the Center for Digital Democracy, wrote that the bill should require strict “opt-in” procedures for the collection and use of covered data and should prohibit the collection and use of any sensitive information except for the transactions for which consumers provided it.
“[Otherwise,] there must be some way to ensure that consumers have an easy way to opt-out of all such profiling through a federal Do Not Track registry,” the groups wrote.
“Consumers online are being 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.”
Recognizing that “[c]onsumers increasingly rely on the internet and other digital services for a wide range of transactions and services, many of which involve their most sensitive affairs, including health, financial, and other personal matters,” the groups’ letter also recommended that the bill should incorporate the Fair Information Practice Principles, including the principle of not collecting more data than is necessary for the stated purposes, limits on how long data should be retained and a right to access and correct one’s data.
“We are committed to working with you to achieve real privacy protection for consumers,” the letter concluded.
To view the discussion draft privacy bill, click here.