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Will White House Data Privacy Legislation Strike The Right Balance Between Protection And Freedom To Market?

By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

Data privacy is on everyone's mind. It's even high on the White House's agenda. For good reason: Americans don't have very much of it right now.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration issued a white paper called, “A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy”. It's an attempt to help the U.S. catch up to Europe when it comes to data privacy and protection of consumers. That continent, thanks to the passage of the “European Data Protection Directive”, enjoys far more stringent consumer protection laws that dictate what marketers may and may not do with consumers' private information. 

While data privacy legislation has been tried before in the U.S., most of it was before the advent of the Internet in everyone's homes, offices and on their mobile devices. The only exception was the Personal Data Privacy Act of 2009. The Act never became law; instead, it was intended as a set of “guidelines and restrictions” on personal data sharing by data brokers, blogged hosted call center solutions provider inContact's Henry St. Andre this week.

We all observed how well “guidelines” were embraced by the shadier outbound telemarketers prior to Federal Do-Not-Call Legislation that forced them into compliance. Guidelines seldom even act as a speed bump on the journey to “as much profit as possible while staying technically inside the law.” But laws are critical, not only to stop repeat dinnertime phone calls but in the realm of data privacy. The amount of Americans' private data available to anyone with the cash or inclination to look for it is staggering, and identify theft and the accidental release of personal data are reaching endemic levels. (Though many people point out the hypocrisy of the White House pushing data privacy legislation when it allows the U.S. Patriot (News - Alert) Act – which gives government entities nearly unlimited insight into Americans' personal lives – to stand. It's hard to argue with that standpoint.)

On the flip side, the legislation needs to be balanced so it doesn't strangle legitimate commerce, which demands the responsible use of business intelligence to survive. Will the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights give both sides what they want? Robust protections while allowing marketers to retain the ability to market? St. Andre reviews some of the Act's specific details in his blog:

Individual Control: Consumers have a right to exercise control over what personal data companies collect from them and how they use it.

Transparency: Consumers have a right to easily understandable and accessible information about privacy and security practices.

Respect for Context: Consumers have a right to expect that companies will collect, use, and disclose personal data in ways that are consistent with the context in which consumers provide the data.

Security: Consumers have a right to secure and responsible handling of personal data.

Access and Accuracy: Consumers have a right to access and correct personal data in usable formats, in a manner that is appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the risk of adverse consequences to consumers if the data is inaccurate.

Focused Collection: Consumers have a right to reasonable limits on the personal data that companies collect and retain.

Accountability: Consumers have a right to have personal data handled by companies with appropriate measures in place to assure they adhere to the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.