Copyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
May 31, 2000, Wednesday, FIVE STAR LIFT
EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. B6
LENGTH: 426 words
HEADLINE:
THE BEST RULE IS CAUTION
BODY:
INTERNET PRIVACY
LAST fall, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal
conducted a poll asking people which of eight public issues constituted their
greatest concern about the next century. The biggest worry was not world war,
terrorism, global warming, economic depression, racial tensions, availability of
guns or overpopulation. It was loss of privacy. As the world moves from the
industrial age to the Internet age, information will become the coin of all
realms. Finding it, selling it, interpreting it and safeguarding it will play
key roles in the course of personal lives and entire nations.
Breaking
from its long-standing policy of favoring industry self-regulation, the Federal
Trade Commission recently asked Congress to strengthen the FTC's ability to
regulate dot-com companies to protect consumer privacy.
The
information that defines who we are -- our medical and
financial records, our spending habits, personal correspondence, even how many
minutes we linger over a cerulean blue sweater on a Web site -- must be
protected. But so must the free flow of information.
In the five years
since the Internet has experienced explosive growth, not enough study has been
done to justify giving the FTC a big stick immediately. A growing number of
software products protecting privacy are coming to market. Still, some
regulation may be needed.
While some lawmakers support the FTC's
recommendations, better ideas have come from legislators who favor further study
and taking small regulatory steps along the way.
Sen. John Kerry,
D-Mass., has a good point in recommending that on-line and off-line consumer
privacy be addressed together. He plans to offer legislation that would take a
sufficient first step by requiring Web sites to clearly and conspicuously
disclose their privacy policies. "Congress will, frankly, never be light-footed
enough -- nor fast-footed enough -- to keep up with technological changes that
are taking place in the online world," said Mr. Kerry.
Another good
approach has been proposed in the House by Reps. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., and Jim
Moran, D-Va. House Resolution 4049 would create a 17-member Commission for the
Comprehensive Study of Privacy Protection. With members appointed by the
president and majority and minority leaders of both chambers, the commission
would spend 18 months studying the issue and conducting field hearings. Then it
would make recommendations to Congress on how best to protect privacy on-line.
What is needed now is caution -- with the mouse and in the House.
LOAD-DATE: May 31, 2000 
