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Obama Calls For New Privacy Bill of Rights

Posted by samzenpus on from the l33t-amendment dept.

CWmike writes "The Obama Administration is backing a new data privacy bill of rights aimed at protecting consumers against indiscriminate online tracking and data collection by advertisers. In recent times, high-profile examples of a need for improving privacy laws include Facebook's personal data collection practices and Google's problems over its Street View Wi-Fi snooping issue. In testimony prepared for the Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation, the Commerce Department's assistant secretary, Lawrence Strickling, said that the White House wants Congress to enact legislation offering 'baseline consumer data privacy protections.' Strickling said the administration's call for new online privacy protections stems from recommendations made by the Commerce Department in a paper released in December. The administration's support for privacy protections is very significant, said Joel Reidenberg, a professor at Fordham Law School who specializes in privacy issues. 'This is the first time since 1974 that the U.S. government has supported mandatory general privacy rules,' Reidenberg said."

4 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. how about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about not having to be seen naked in order to be able to fly? Or that there should be a court order before my electronic communications can be intercepted by law enforcement / intelligence agencies?

    Bush, Obama, same thing...

  2. Google's Troubles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can we PLEASE stop talking about Google as if they did something wrong? I don't exactly blame my neighbors for hearing me when I stand on the top of my house screaming my personal information in all directions.

    1. Re:Google's Troubles by LordLucless · · Score: 5, Insightful

      None of which is relevant to what the OP is talking about, which is the data received from insecure Wi-Fi APs, not Google's cookies online. They weren't deliberately listening in, as much as they were listening to everything. You can argue they recorded it, but that's because computer's cannot listen without recording it in some fashion.

      They definitely didn't follow people around, they didn't upload them to the web, they didn't analyze the data, and they didn't sell it. They deleted it. Hell, they would have preferred deleting it, instead of handing it over to the government, when they found the data they had and told people about it off their own bat.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
  3. Re:Which one does the President really believe in? by causality · · Score: 5, Insightful

    OMG! It's like these people in government are human beings with nuanced opinions and conflicting constituencies!

    ... and no principles that consistently direct their decision-making since that would require a spine and would likely interfere with retaining power.

    You really want to make excuses for that?

    --
    It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein