More on the recent panel discussion sponsored by the Technology Policy Institute….
Advertisers need to consider consumers’ right to privacy when they collect information on individual internet consumers, a panel of academics, non-profits and industry officials agreed on Friday. The experts spoke during a panel discussion sponsored by the Technology Policy Institute, a market-oriented think tank on technology issues.
Emphasizing the success of the Internet as an unregulated medium, Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns said it is important to treat any such legislation with caution.
Stearns said that “only the consumer” knows how he or she feels about the information being collected about him.
Still, increased transparency and choice would help in resolving the conflict between advertisers’ needs for information and consumers’ privacy.
Any legislation passed should apply the same privacy rules to similar types of companies collecting the same type of information for the same reasons, he said, and parties accountable only for what they know and control.
Besides the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, Stearns suggested that a new agency could be formed for this type of regulation.
Read more on BroadbandCensus.com for reactions by panelists to Stearns’ remarks, including quotes from Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon University, Gerard Lewis of Comcast, Alan Davidson of Google, Leslie Harris of CDT, Paul H. Rubin of Technology Policy Institute, and Samuel Candler Dobbs of Emory University.