Consumer Bill of Rights for Internet Data Collection

The Commerce Department announced that it wants to see a consumer bill of rights on internet data collection.

The proposal draft said it would be voluntary.  The private sector could choose whether or not they would participate.  If you do participate, enforcement of the "bill of rights" would be overseen by the Federal Trade Commission.

This is a follow on to the discussion about calling for a "do not track" option.  The adjusted approach addresses the concern that the Federal Government not create a mandate that could put some companies out of business before they can even launch because they cannot adhere to the regulations.

The Commerce Department also proposed creating a "Privacy Policy Office" within Commerce to help with privacy issues on the internet.

According to the Commerce Department, almost 2/3 of American adults have changed their privacy settings on social networking profiles to manage what they share online.

Sources:

"Commerce Department calls for consumer bill of rights on Internet data collection", Washington AP, December 1, 2010.

"Obama administration calls for online privacy bill of rights", David Goldman, CNN Mony, December 16, 2010.