Rep Stearns promises new online privacy legislation

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Rep Cliff Stearns (R-FL) will soon introduce legislation designed to give Web users more control of their personal data and to give the Federal Trade Commission power to enforce voluntary privacy standards developed with Internet companies, he said March 4.

Rep Stearns said he plans to introduce online privacy legislation soon. The bill's focus will be on allowing Web users to know what personal information Internet companies are collecting about them and to control how it's used, said Stearns, co-author of past online privacy bills. The bill would encourage Web-based companies to develop industry standards for privacy but would give the FTC some enforcement power, Rep Stearns said during a speech at a Technology Policy Institute (TPI) forum on privacy. Finding the right balance between privacy and online commerce is a "tough issue," but consumers are demanding more privacy protections. "We are at a tipping point where we have to come to grips with the information that's being collected," he said.


Rep Stearns promises new online privacy legislation