Please let us know if we are missing anything else useful!
Summary of Draft Department of Commerce Privacy Green Paper
Chris Wolf passes on details that have emerged about the upcoming Commerce Dept. privacy ‘green paper’. Interesting to note that Commerce is calling for a baseline privacy law supplanted by self-regulation – which sounds close to what the FTC is likely to call for. To read his post, click here: Summary of Draft Department of Commerce Green Paper.
A US Privacy Leader
Two weeks ago in Jerusalem at the annual conference of Data Protection Commissioners, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Strickling announced that Commerce Department would be calling for the creation of a new US privacy office.
Here is how Strickling described the role:
” In the area of privacy, I believe that the U.S. Government should establish a Privacy Policy Office to serve as a center of information privacy expertise. This Office would complement, not supplant, the Federal Trade Commission or the other institutions in the Federal Government, such as the professional cadre of Chief Privacy Officers we now have in multiple agencies. A key role for the new Privacy Office would be to bring together the many different parties that are necessary to help develop privacy practices. This institutional commitment to engage on information privacy issues in a dynamic, multi-stakeholder manner over the long term would do more than just help voluntary industry codes to develop. It would also be an important vehicle to help us better engage with all of you to address the privacy issues that we’re all confronting.”
We at the Future of Privacy Forum were delighted because we have been advocating for the Administration to do just this! Item number one on our “Agenda for the New Administration” was as follows: Appoint a Chief Privacy Officer to Promote Fair Information Practices in the Public and Private Sectors.
Here is what we said: “We embrace the idea of government catching up to industry by creating the central role of a Chief Technology Officer, as has been announced. But we also point out the need — recognized by hundreds of privacy-sensitive companies — for a senior level Chief Privacy Officer, someone to ensure that data protection is a central consideration for technology, data and policy decisions. Although many federal agencies have privacy officers, the fact that data is increasingly available across government entities demonstrates the need for a central figure to lead U.S. efforts to respect citizen data. To ensure that the data needed to combat terror will be available while appropriate oversight is in place to protect essential freedoms, the Administration should have an accountable, executive-level figure to drive an agenda based on responsible data practices. And as behavioral targeting, correlation of data across platforms, cloud computing and the use of personal health records becomes widespread in the business world, the need for a senior figure who can drive a consumer-centric agenda based on Fair Information Practices becomes increasingly crucial.
As data flows have already become a global issue, an empowered central address for U.S. data protection will also more effectively allow the U.S. to engage with data authorities around the world.”
Strickling also noted the importance of international engagement at the Commissioner’s conference when he continued:
“This brings me to a third major issue: our desire for robust engagement with the global privacy community. The Obama Administration realizes that the legal and policy framework surrounding the Internet, especially privacy, is complex both domestically and internationally. While we understand that governments must act to protect their citizens, we also wish to avoid fragmented sets of inconsistent and unpredictable rules that frustrate innovation and the broad commercial success of the online environment.”
We are delighted to see this idea embraced by the leaders at Commerce and hope it will be supported by the White House!
We also provided a number of more detailed ideas to the Department of Commerce on public panels, informal meetings and in response to their request for formal submissions. Have a look at our filing for details! We hope some of these ideas will show up in the upcoming Commerce Department “Green Paper” .
As both the value to consumers of data use and the risks that follow increase exponentially, we are at a point where enhancing privacy and trust online is essential. We are glad to see Commerce joining the fray!
Privacy Showdown? Not! The US is finally "in the game"!
It was very disappointing to read today’s NYTimes story which raised the idea that the Department of Commerce was focusing on privacy in order to somehow head off the FTC’s upcoming report on a privacy framework. We at FPF and many others have been urging the Administration to step into the privacy efforts in the private sector and internationally and to provide leadership in advancing a serious data protection agenda. We issued a privacy agenda for the White House in its first days and we have provided detailed measures that would advance consumer privacy protections. We are very optimistic that some of these ideas will show up in the soon-to-be-released Department of Commerce ‘green paper’ on privacy. At the OECD meeting on privacy in Jerusalem, we were thrilled to hear Assistant Secretary Strickland announce support for our idea of a new position of a central appointed US leader to advance privacy at home and abroad.
For years, the US has had a minimal voice in the international privacy debates that have been raging. The FTC is present at international meetings to discuss their agenda and important enforcement activity, but as an independent agency, they do not speak for the Administration. The Department of Homeland Security is active, but the only on the topic of national security concerns. It was therefore very encouraging to see Administration leaders like Cameron Kerry, Larry Strickling and Danny Weitzner taking active roles at the recent OECD and Data Commissioner Conferences in Jerusalem.
We understand the knee jerk assumption that the Department of Commerce is supposed to support ‘commerce.’ But anyone with perspective should recognize that US business interests around the world and free flows of data that are needed for commerce will not advance unless the US shows that it is serious about privacy. We think the team in place at Commerce gets that quite well. Whether the Commerce report or the new cross agency privacy committee calls for legislation, self regulation or something in between, the plan seems to be to at long last move the privacy agenda forward.
November 29 – 30: IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress
December 7 – 9: IAPP Practical Privacy Series
March 9 – 11: IAPP: Global Privacy Summit
Jules' TAP Twitterview – Nov. 10
Tune in to Twitter on Wednesday, November 10 at 2 p.m. Eastern, as Jules shares the latest and greatest on privacy during his TAP: Technology-Academics-Policy Twitterview. Look for #TAPtalk and #privacy.
What the US Election Results Mean for Privacy
Privacy was not on the ballot yesterday, but the results may affect the prospects for privacy legislation in the new Congress.
The big news is that Congressman Rick Boucher, a respected Virginia Democrat who has served for nearly 19 years, was defeated by Morgan Griffith, a Virginia state legislator. Boucher, along with Congressman Rick Stearns (R-FL) circulated a draft comprehensive privacy bill earlier this year and promised to introduce it after harmonizing it with the bill introduced by Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL). The election result means that Boucher no longer will chair the House Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee. He may be succeeded by Stearns, who presumably would still favor privacy legislation and make it a subcommittee priority.
Chris Wolf presents to World Privacy Authorities in Jerusalem
Chris Wolf presents paper, “Targeted Enforcement and Shared Lawmaking Authority as Catalysts for Data Protection in the United States,” at the 32nd Annual International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Jerusalem. An article adapted from that presentation appears in the BNA Privacy and Security Law Report and can be found here.
