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FC: Nat'l Consumer Coalition opposes privacy pledge; others endorse it
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 16:20:59 -0500
************* National Consumer Coalition / "Protecting Consumers' Real Interests" For Immediate Release Contact: James Plummer (202) 467-5809 NCC's Privacy Group Cautions Against Hasty Pledges That May Harm Consumers WASHINGTON, DC -- Several members of the National Consumer Coalition's (NCC) Privacy Group today expressed concern at the rush to endorse the Federal Trade Commission's so-called "Fair Information Practice Principles" ("FIPPs"). Lawmakers who pledge fidelity to this agenda are essentially promising to limit consumer choice and the free flow of information and to regulate the burgeoning Internet economy, passing costs on to consumers. The FIPPs, as well as a call for federal information regulation is encompassed in a "Privacy Pledge" distributed today by groups calling themselves The Privacy Coalition. The NCC members believe signing this pledge would be a mistake, and cite some of the problems with the "Fair Information Practices" concepts: "Notice": Requiring websites to post a privacy policy concerning how information is collected and used is, at best, unnecessary. Consumers concerned about their privacy can and do already choose to avoid sites that don't post this information. Producing the required legalese, meanwhile, would impose high costs on online vendors, which would either pass costs on to consumers, or in the case of smaller businesses, price them out of the market, thereby reducing consumer choice. "Consent": Decreeing that customers must be able to "opt-out" or must affirmatively "opt-in" to information collection practices also places cost burdens which are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices and fewer choices. Consumers already can and should choose with whom they want to share personal information online. "Access" and "Security": Forcing commercial sites to allow customers access to the information collected about them and the opportunity to change, correct or delete that information would be complicated and costly to merchants and consumers alike. Just as troubling is that access and a fourth principle, security, are at odds. Requiring companies to keep accessible personal information about consumers online leaves the information that much more susceptible to dissemination via both error and hacker. The federal government can best protect individual and consumer privacy by keeping a tight rein on its own extensive surveillance and information-swapping practices, and by forsaking the temptation to mandate further collection of consumer information by a national Internet sales-tax scheme or other means. Consumers particularly concerned about privacy can and should make use of free and pay services to anonymize their online activities and stay abreast of the policies of websites with which they choose to do business (the P3P standards set to go online later this year should make this even easier). The National Consumer Coalition trusts consumers, not Congress, to decide for themselves which privacy practices best serve their individualized needs. The only thing federal dictats can do for consumers is raise costs and limit choice. --30 - Citizen, consumer, and policy groups of the NCC Privacy Group: Citizens Against Government Waste (www.cagw.org) Citizens for a Sound Economy (www.cse.org) Competitive Enterprise Institute (www.cei.org) Consumer Alert (www.consumeralert.org) ************* http://www.epic.org/privacycoalition/coalition_press_release.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 12, 2001 THE PRIVACY COALITION ANNOUNCES NEW PRIVACY INITIATIVE The Privacy Pledge Sets Standard for Privacy Proposals in Congress WASHINGTON, DC -- The Privacy Coalition, a nonpartisan coalition of consumer, civil liberties, educational, library, labor, and family-based groups, presented "The Privacy Pledge" - the standard for future protection of privacy. Privacy is the major social issue of the information society and the top technology issue in the 107th Congress. Member groups of The Privacy Coalition include: the American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Media Education, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers Union, Eagle Forum, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), Junkbusters, Media Access Project, National Consumers League, Privacy Foundation, Privacy International, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). The Privacy Coalition invites members of federal and state legislatures to sign the pledge and thus protect one of the most important rights of Americans. The provisions of the pledge outline the necessary steps for future steps to protect privacy. The Privacy Pledge reads as follows: The Privacy Pledge Privacy is one of America's most fundamental values. The Fourth Amendment states that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." In addition, the U.S. has adopted many laws protecting Americans from privacy invasive practices by both the public and private sectors. Recognizing the need to protect this essential freedom, I, (insert Member's name), pledge to my constituents in (State and District) and to the American people that I will support a privacy framework to safeguard the rights of Americans in this information age. This framework includes: 1. the Fair Information Practices: the right to notice, consent, security, access, correction, use limitations, and redress when information is improperly used, 2. independent enforcement and oversight, 3. promotion of genuine Privacy Enhancing Technologies that limit the collection of personal information and legal restrictions on surveillance technologies such as those used for locational tracking, video surveillance, electronic profiling, and workplace monitoring, and 4. a solid foundation of federal privacy safeguards that permit the private sector and states to implement supplementary protections as needed. ______________________ Signature ______________________ Date The Privacy Pledge was publicly presented in the First Amendment Lounge of the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Monday, February 12, at 9:30 a.m. CONTACT: American Association of Law Libraries http://www.aallnet.org/ (202) 662-9200 American Library Association Washington Office http://www.alawash.org/ (202) 628-8410 American Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu.org/ (202) 544-1681 Center for Media Education http://www.cme.org/ (202) 331-7833 Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility http://www.cpsr.org/ (650) 322-3778 Consumer Federation of America http://www.consumerfed.org/ (202) 387-6121 Consumer Project on Technology http://www.cptech.org/ (202) 387-8030 Consumers Union http://www.consumer.org/ (202) 462-6262 Eagle Forum http://www.eagleforum.org/ (202) 544-0353 Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) http://www.epic.org/ (202) 483-1140 International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) http://www.uaw.org/ (202) 828-8500 Junkbusters http://www.junkbusters.com/ (908) 753-7861 Media Access Project http://www.mediaaccess.org/ (202) 232-4300 National Consumers League http://www.nclnet.org/ (202) 835-3323 Privacy Foundation http://www.privacyfoundation.org/ (303) 871-4971 Privacy International http://www.privacyinternational.org/ Privacy Rights Clearinghouse http://www.privacyrights.org/ (619) 298-3396 Privacy Times http://www.privacytimes.com/ (202) 829-3660 U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) http://www.pirg.org/ (202) 546-9707 - 30 - ***************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. 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- FC: Nat'l Consumer Coalition opposes privacy pledge; others endorse it Declan McCullagh (Feb 12)