The privacy plan of the Obama Administration has stirred issues among consumers and the public in general. This has also dragged the White House into the center of the debates. After the announcement of the plan last week, controversies over online privacy have once again heated up.
The said proposal aims to gather together different entities that are related to online activities in order to have them unite. It would start by calling on those internet companies, law enforcement agencies, privacy groups, and state attorney generals. To start, they are encouraged to set aside their personal interests and to collaborate. They will work for a common purpose – to come up with voluntary standards that would defend consumer data to the highest degree.
Some groups are afraid that the Obama privacy plan could intimidate the internet. According to privacy advocates, they are hoping that the plan will be a good one. Others are hopeful that the United States will soon have a privacy law; one that supports innovation and gives more user protection.
The framework of the proposed law consists of four parts. These are: the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, a multi-stakeholder process, an adequate enforcement model, and a commitment to strengthen interoperability.
The Bill of Rights framework also contains seven specific provisions. These are: individual control, transparency, respect for context, security, access and accuracy, focused collection, and accountability. With these, consumers can expect to have better control over data that they share online. The provisions of the multi-stakeholder process look into how companies can benefit from the privacy law. With the interoperability provisions included, other countries could possibly recognize and enforce the same law.
Expecting the possible consequences of the law, a researcher at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University has expressed his concern. The first problem that he foresees is the hurt that it could inflict among companies. For a long time, behavioral advertising has proven to be one of the most effective methods of gaining profits. Part of the revenue derived from behavioral tracking and data aggregation is used to offer free internet services such as web-based email and social networking. For ordinary internet users, these are the services that they use every day. The probable effect of regulation is that these services would no longer be free.
Being more responsible over what they do online is what consumers should learn more about. Many privacy issues could be solved if consumers would clean their own footprints on the internet. In this part, the Obama administration should put more weight on defending consumers by first educating them. The government should not overlook this in its efforts to protect consumers.
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