Gov't. Said Poised to Create Online Privacy Watchdog
The Obama administration is expected to announce Internet privacy regulations as well as a new position to oversee what would be a more aggressive government involvement with the Internet, according to a published report.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Commerce Department will issue the recommendations in coming weeks, though nothing yet has been finalized.
"The initiatives would mark a turning point in Internet policy. Recent administrations typically steered away from Internet regulations out of concern for stifling innovation. But the increasingly central role of personal information in the Internet economy helped spark government action, according to people familiar with the situation."Currently, U.S. online privacy issues fall under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission. But in the absence of an overarching law to protect consumer privacy online, the administration is said to want to pass tougher laws.
"The central issue in writing federal privacy legislation is whether the Internet industry's efforts to police its own behavior has been effective enough. Proponents of legislation argue the industry is a Wild West where consumer data are gathered and sold without restrictions. Opponents of legislation say the industry is committed to providing tools to give consumers better insight into and control over data about themselves. Commerce's draft report doesn't recommend specific legislation, but does indicate that self-regulation isn't robust enough, these people said. The administration would seek to guide the legislative debate through its new privacy office."