On Feb. 27, the White House announced that they will be proposing a new piece of legislation, the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Act. The aim of the bill, according to the White House, is to provide greater privacy for consumers.
There are some laws already in place to protect consumers. One, the Video Privacy Protection Act, was passed in 1988 and signed into law by President Reagan. It prohibits companies from revealing the video rental records of their customers. It also covers video games and DVDs.
Another such law is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which was passed in 1970. The FCRA regulates the collection and dissemination of consumers’ credit information by businesses. Among many other provisions, it requires that companies such as credit card companies provide accurate information to credit reporting agencies.
Some private companies are claiming that the president’s proposed legislation is not good enough. They say that it gives too much power to businesses and too little to consumers. Under this bill, companies would be able to come up with their own regulations for keeping customers’ information private. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would then make sure that these regulations fulfill a few basic requirements, such as being transparent with customers about how their private information is being stored. The FTC would also ensure that the companies follow their own regulations. If the companies violate their regulations, they could be punished by the FTC or by the state attorney general.
The legislation aims to protect consumers from data brokers, which are companies that collect information about consumers and sell this information to other companies. Using information such as household income, ethnicity and hobbies provided by data brokers, marketers can more effectively target consumers. However, data brokers can also indirectly harm consumers; the FTC wrote in a report in 2014 that businesses could use this type of data to decide whether someone would be a good employee or to turn someone down for a loan. In the same report, the FTC called on Congress to enact legislation so that consumers’ information could be more thoroughly protected.
Some legal scholars have also protested the new legislation, claiming that all businesses should follow the same clear regulations. They also think it could override the protections that consumers already have. Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts is against the legislation because it would give businesses too much control over their own code of conduct.
On the other hand, Microsoft is in favor of the bill. Brendon Lynch, the chief privacy officer for Microsoft, said in a blog post that the company doesn’t agree with every aspect of the legislation but thinks that it is a good place to start the conversation.
The legislation right now is in a stage called a discussion draft, and it needs a congressperson to sponsor it before it can move on to the next stage.
