A new Senate bill introduced Tuesday would establish a “privacy bill of rights” to set ground rules for companies that collect consumer data, including personal data amassed on the Internet and then mined to target online advertising.
The bill, sponsored by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and Republican John McCain of Arizona, would create a “baseline code of conduct” to govern the use of information that could identify a particular individual or a particular computer or smartphone. It would establish a framework for how this data could be collected, used, stored and shared with third parties such as online advertising networks.
The proposal aims to address growing unease about the vast amounts of personal information that companies are scooping up on the Internet — including Web browsing habits, smartphone locations and Facebook preferences. That data is seen as a goldmine for marketers, and consumers have little control over what happens to it.
“Companies can harvest our personal information online … and they can do whatever they want … and we have no legal right to stop it,” Kerry said.
The bill comes several months after the Commerce Department called for the creation of a “privacy bill of rights” for Internet users, and after the Federal Trade Commission recommended the creation of a “Do Not Track” tool to let consumers stop or restrict advertisers from studying their online activity to target ads.
It also comes just two weeks after the FTC reached a landmark agreement with Google Inc. to settle charges that it deceived users and violated its own privacy policy when it launched a social networking service called Buzz last year. The settlement requires Google to adopt a comprehensive privacy program and submit to independent audits of that program every other year for the next 20 years.
The new legislation would require companies to clearly disclose how they collect and use personal data — including whether they share it with online advertising networks — and give users the opportunity to turn off this data collection through an “opt-out” choice. It would also require companies to obtain explicit user consent before collecting sensitive personal information, such health or financial data.
In addition, the bill would require companies to establish strong data security protections for personal data, and to give users an opportunity to review and correct mistakes in their information. The rules, which would apply to any company that collects data on more than 5,000 people in a one-year period, would be enforced by the FTC and state attorneys general.
The bill also opens the door to a form of industry self-regulation by granting immunity from the law to companies that abide by voluntary privacy programs approved by the FTC. The bill directs the Commerce Department to help develop such programs.
Reaction to the new legislation was mixed.
A number of big technology companies, including Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Microsoft Corp., eBay Inc., AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc., praised the bill.
“The proposed framework is a great start toward modernizing privacy rules for the Internet age,” Verizon said in a statement.
But several privacy watchdog groups complained that it would not go far enough, in part because it would not mandate the creation of a “Do Not Track” tool.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More