Copyright 2000 Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles
Times
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May 23, 2000, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Business; Part C; Page 3; Financial Desk
LENGTH: 475 words
HEADLINE:
TECHNOLOGY;
FTC SEEKS ONLINE PRIVACY LAW FROM CONGRESS;
INTERNET: REPORT BY THE AGENCY CRITICIZES INDUSTRY'S SELF-REGULATION OF WEB
SITES THAT COLLECT CONSUMERS' PERSONAL INFORMATION.
BYLINE: ROBERT L. JACKSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Companies operating on the Internet have failed to adequately protect the
privacy rights of consumers, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday, arguing
that Congress should give the agency new powers to step into the breach.
In a report to Congress titled "Privacy Online: Fair Information
Practices in the Electronic Marketplace," the FTC said a survey by the
commission showed that fewer than half of the busiest U.S. Web sites provide
basic privacy protections.
It recommended that Congress enact
legislation to ensure a new law that would require Web sites that collect
"personal identifying information" from consumers to comply with four typical
standards in consumer law: notice, choice, access and security. The online
industry drew an immediate line in the sand, calling the proposal "extremely
disappointing and entirely unnecessary."
Harris Miller, president of the
Information Technology Assn. of America, based in Arlington, Va., noted that the
industry plans to demonstrate new standards-based privacy protections within the
next few weeks.
"Empowered users, not Washington bureaucrats, are best
able to determine adequate privacy protections on the Internet," Miller said.
And congressional sources said the prospects of passage of such
legislation this year are dim.
Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) rated the
chance of passage of such a bill in the Republican-controlled Congress as
"virtually nil."
Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D--S.C.), who is sponsoring an
Internet privacy bill with eight other Democrats, said industry representatives
so far have "nearly unanimously opposed even a basic regulatory framework" that
would ensure consumer privacy on the Internet.
Even among members of the
FTC's governing board, opinion was split 3 to 2, with dissenting Commissioner
Orson Swindle calling the recommendation "an unwarranted reversal of its earlier
acceptance of a self-regulatory approach" even in the face of "significant
progress" in self-policing of Internet sites.
But FTC Chairman Robert
Pitofsky, appointed by President Clinton in 1995, defended the proposal, saying
too few Web sites meet basic standards of privacy protection, thereby
"endangering consumer confidence."
And Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.),
who chairs the House Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications, trade and
consumer protection, said he met with Pitofsky and hasn't closed the door on new
legislation if needed.
"We asked him to examine the scope of his
authority to police bad players on the Internet," Tauzin told Associated Press.
The FTC survey looked at two groups of Web sites: those with at least
39,000 unique monthly visitors and the 100 most popular U.S. Web sites. The
results showed that only 20% of the larger group and 42% of the most popular
sites have implemented all four privacy protections.
LOAD-DATE: May 23, 2000 
