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              | Date: 2000-05-20 
 
 US-Privacy: Staat droht IT-Industrie-.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.-
 
 Weil die Informations-Industrie in Sachen Selbstregulation
 von Privacy gar wenig zusammengebracht hat, meldet sich
 der Staat in seiner [US]-Erscheinungsform Federal Trade
 Commission als oberster Schützer seiner Bürger zu Wort.
 Das Privileg, diese auszuforschen, ist nämlich für die
 gesetzlich ermächtigten Kräfte reserviert.
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 Relayed by schoefbaenker@aon.at -tnx
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 U.S. Is Said to Seek New Law to Bolster Internet Privacy
 
 May 19 -- Concluding that companies on the Internet have
 not properly protected the privacy of consumers, the Federal
 Trade Commission has decided to ask Congress for authority
 to impose tough consumer privacy safeguards, government
 officials said today.
 
 In an unannounced vote taken today, the commission
 approved a staff recommendation to seek legislation giving
 the agency such authority. The action comes after the recent
 completion of a survey by the commission that found that
 only about 20 percent of major companies on the Internet had
 adequate standards for protecting the privacy of Internet
 users.
 ...
 It represents a sharp departure from the agency's previous
 policy of relying almost entirely on the industry to police
 itself. But lawmakers said that the prospects were not strong
 for Congress to adopt legislation so late in the session.
 
 The legislation sought by the commission would permit it to
 regulate the kinds of notice given to consumers about use of
 information regarding them, as well as whether consumers
 can block that use.
 
 It would allow the commission to establish rules for keeping
 the information secure from third parties. And it would
 authorize the commission to penalize companies that violate
 privacy rules.
 ...
 Democratic lawmakers in both the House and Senate who
 have been the most vocal advocates for privacy legislation
 said this week that the prospects for final passage of any
 privacy measure were not strong, since the Republicans have
 largely sided with industry and there are not enough
 legislative days remaining to pass a significant new measure.
 ...
 Nonetheless, a group of nine Democratic senators led by
 Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina and John D. Rockefeller
 4th of West Virginia is preparing to introduce a measure next
 week that is similar to what the commission has sought. The
 legislation also contains measures that appeal to Internet
 companies, most notably a provision that pre-empts all state
 law on Internet privacy.
 ...
 A report accompanying the commission's proposal for
 legislation found that the industry had made significant
 progress in policing itself, but not enough. Robert Pitofsky,
 the chairman of the trade commission, has said recently that
 there is a big role for companies to monitor themselves, but
 that as the market develops, there may also be a need for
 government to play a role as well.
 ...
 But industry groups say any effort to give the commission
 new rule-making authority would be an unwarranted incursion
 by the government into regulating cyberspace and could
 discourage the development of many start-up Internet
 companies.
 ...
 Christine A. Varney, a former member of the trade
 commission who is now representing an industry group, said
 the agency already had significant authority to crack down on
 companies that violated the privacy interests of consumers
 by engaging in deceptive practices.
 
 "Clearly they already have authority and they have exercised
 it," said Ms. Varney, an adviser to the Online Privacy
 Alliance, a group of about 100 companies and associations
 interested in Internet issues.
 ....
 "The bottom line is that the privacy gap between the
 safeguards in place and the intrusions seems to be growing
 not narrowing, and that has as much as anything to do with
 the lack of enforcement at the F.T.C.," said Marc Rotenberg,
 director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a
 research organization that studies privacy issues and
 technology. "There is little indication that self-regulation is
 working."
 
 Full Text
 http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/20privacy.html
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 edited by
 published on: 2000-05-20
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