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.
The Billion Dollar Privacy Question…
This is the Billion Dollar privacy question: Good or Evil: Have We Shared Too Much w/ Facebook, Google & Apple? http://ityb.it/2p8Hr(Linked expired) great infographic show why the answer is .. YES
Some Weekend Reading for Smart Grid Privacy Folks
The U.S. Department of Energy released two reports on important policy issues raised by Smart Grid technologies that can promote innovation, cut costs for consumers and modernize the electrical grid.
The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released a journal of Privacy Papers for Policy Makers, which highlights six leading privacy writings that were voted by the FPF Advisory Board to be most useful for policy makers on Capitol Hill and within federal agencies who are focusing on how to improve the protection of personal privacy. The writings cover a wide array of topics, including recommendations for regulatory reform, how privacy protection must adapt to user perceptions and how to design privacy policies for the Web.
