At the annual conference of the American Business Media yesterday, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) outlined the provisions of a data privacy bill he expects to release today. The bill would provide consumers the right to opt out of having their personal information, including internet surfing habits, social networking sites visited, and the products and services they purchase, collected by companies engaged in behavioral targeting.
It would apply to the collection of personal information from consumers both online and offline and "initially require that all Web sites that collect information from consumers give consumers notice with respect to what information is collected, how it is used, who it is shared with, and the circumstances under which it is shared," Boucher said. Unaffiliated third party websites that collect data from multiple unaffiliated websites as well as those seeking to use sensitive personal information such as medical or financial data would be required to have the consumer's specific consent before using and collecting the information from them.
A letter cosigned by the Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group decried the inclusion of the “opt out” provision as “a blow to consumer protection” by allowing firms to collect and use data unless consumers specifically request that it not be collected. The letter also called for the right for consumers to review and correct the information and to prevent the linking of an individual’s name or address through an IP address, cookie or other identifier.
More on the implications of bill concerning the collection and use of data on a consumer’s energy use provided by SG meters will be determined once the bill is released.