The Need for Privacy Protections: Is Industry Self-Regulation Adequate?
10:00 AM Russell Senate Office Building 253
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV announced that the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing on “The Need for Privacy Protections: Is Industry Self-Regulation Adequate?”. This hearing is a follow-up to the Commerce Committee hearing on May 9, 2012, which examined the privacy reports issued by the Obama Administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Committee will hear testimony on the current state of industry self-regulation in providing consumers with adequate tools to protect their personal information.
“In our prior hearing on consumer privacy, both the Obama Administration and the FTC commended recent industry efforts to provide consumers with more privacy protections,” said Chairman Rockefeller. “However, their reports also stated that industry can do more and that federal legislation is necessary. In this follow-up hearing, I intend to closely examine how industry intends to fulfill its recent pledge to not collect consumers’ personal information when they utilize the self-regulatory ad icon or make “do-not-track” requests in their web browsers.”
Please note the hearing will be webcast live via the Senate Commerce Committee website. Refresh the Commerce Committee homepage 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time to automatically begin streaming the webcast.
Individuals with disabilities who require an auxiliary aid or service, including closed captioning service for webcast hearings, should contact Collenne Wider at 202-224-5511 at least three business days in advance of the hearing date.
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Majority Statement
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Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationMajority Statement
Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV
Washington, D.C.—Two months ago, we held a hearing in this room on the need for Internet privacy protections. We discussed how Americans are tracked each time they visit a website, watch a video, or make a purchase. Both the Obama Administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) testified that Americans have very few rights to protect their information online.
I recognize that consumer information is the currency of the web. Thanks to advertising revenue, much of the rich content of the Internet is available to consumers for free. I also understand that advertising is more effective and valuable to companies when it is tailored to match consumers’ individual interests and tastes. But there has to be some balance. Consumers should have some degree of control over their personal, often sensitive, online information.
As we heard at our hearing in May, some in the private sector have begun to recognize this need for balance. Certain online companies have started taking steps to provide consumers with tools to protect their personal information. However, our witnesses also said that industry has not gone far enough and that federal legislation is needed. The story we heard this week about Orbitz targeting more expensive hotel rooms to Mac users should remind all of us that companies will always be tempted to misuse the consumer information they collect.
In conjunction with the White House and FTC reports, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) has announced that its member online companies will stop collecting personal information from those consumers who tell them to stop doing so. However, DAA also states that companies will still collect information on these very same consumers for “market research” and “product development”. These exceptions are so broad- they could swallow the rule. “Market research” and “product development” could encompass almost anything.
Today, I want to hear from our witnesses what consumers should expect when they tell online companies that they do not want their information collected for any purpose other than the functionality of the service. No one wants to “break the Internet.” But what many of us want is an Internet where consumers have some control over their personal information.
As I stated in our May hearing, I have learned that self-regulation is inherently one-sided, and that the interests of consumers are often sacrificed for the demands of the bottom-line. Until consumers are adequately protected, I will continue to push for legislation, and hold hearings, to address this imbalance.
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Testimony
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Mr. Bob Liodice
President and CEOAssociation of National AdvertisersDownload Testimony (66.14 KB) -
Mr. Peter Swire
C. William O'Neill Professor of LawThe Ohio State UniversityDownload Testimony (423.75 KB) -
Mr. Berin Szoka
PresidentTechFreedomDownload Testimony (637.44 KB) -
Mr. Alex Fowler
Global Privacy and Policy LeaderMozillaDownload Testimony (172.99 KB)
