US Groups Urge Change of Tack for Online Privacy Laws

Consumer groups in the US are urging a stronger line from the Federal Trade Commission in protecting consumers from the 'great risk of identity theft, financial fraud, and data breaches'.

According to web site www.consumeraffairs.com , organisations including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) have written to the FTC arguing that 'proactive efforts to strengthen data protection will spur innovation and support business models that are sustainable over time'. This, they suggest, would be better served by a move away from the current emphasis on giving consumers 'notice and choice' - 'tho this has generally been accepted by the online ad industry - and towards pursuit of legal actions based on unfairness.

On the regulatory side new FTC head Maureen Ohlhausen, along with new FCC Chair Ajit Pai, have already expressed an interest in replacing 'notice and choice' with a policy based on whether harm has been done. Ohlhausen is on record with the belief that consumers are not harmed when tracked by MR companies or for ad targeting - she comments: 'The overwhelming majority of consumer benefits emerge from a free and honest market. Our job, then, is to address unfair and deceptive practices that harm the market process and harm consumers. And we must do so in a way that avoids hindering market-generated consumer benefits'. Pai has expressed similar sentiment and been slammed as 'outrageous' by Sophia Cope, Staff Attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg told Consumer Affairs both 'notice and choice' and 'harms-based' approaches can be used to undermine the privacy of consumers. He comments: 'consumers are left with a 'take it or leave it' choice... And companies point to these 'notices' in litigation to say that consumers were warned'. He goes on to suggest that 'It doesn't help consumers to have a 'right to choose' about tracking'. Rotenberg says 'Fair Information Practices' (FIPs), which place legal obligations on companies and give legal rights to individuals who turn over their data to others, are 'the basis of most real privacy laws' and should be the way forward for the regulation of online tracking.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.