The new laws, which mostly take effect on 1st January 2001, will
create an Office of Privacy Protection, which is the first of its
kind in the US. It will provide information, advice and referrals
to consumers to help resolve privacy disputes and concerns.
Businesses will be required to shred, erase or otherwise make
unreadable any customer records containing personal information
when disposing of them. Credit card companies that share customer
data will have to give customers the option to opt-out of the
practice. Another measure limits the information which credit
agencies can report on consumers.
In Europe, data protection law provides stringent protection to
the privacy of individuals. The US has long allowed industry to
“self-regulate”, without having formal equivalents of the European
requirements. However, a recent meeting of the US Congress, there
were calls for new federal privacy protection laws.
