A coalition of US associations and companies, the Online Privacy
Alliance (OPA), is opposing proposed US internet privacy laws,
arguing instead that US industry should continue its policy of
self-regulation.
The group claims that privacy legislation, such as the UK’s Data
Protection Act, would cost US consumers billions of dollars
annually. Earlier this month, an OPA advisor called for Congress to
“focus on the way technology is used rather than trying to pass
laws governing specific technologies.”
"It’s the behavior of businesses and not the technologies they
use that determine whether consumer privacy is respected," said
Christine Varney, an advisor to the OPA and a former Federal Trade
Commissioner. "There are practices that enhance privacy and
practices that invade privacy, but technology itself is
neutral."
There are numerous privacy bills in Congress, but they have made
little progress. The include the Online Privacy Protection Act,
which, if passed, would allow consumers to access their personal
data (as the Data Protection Act allows in the US), and the
Internet Integrity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act,
which would make it an offence to fraudulently access personal
information.
The on-line edition of the Wall Street Journal reports that the
OPA, whose members include industry giants Microsoft, AOL Time
Warnet, IBM, AT&T and Sun Microsystems, is this week attacking
legislative proposals on three fronts:
- Identifying expensive regulatory burdens;
- Raising questions about how any US internet law would apply to
non-internet industries; and
- Arguing that privacy is best guarded by new technology, not new
laws.
According to the Wall Street Journal, reports published on
Monday by the OPA claim that proposals to limit companies from
sharing or selling customer information without permission would
cost 90 of the largest US financial institutions $17 billion
annually in added expensive. They also suggest that consumers would
face a $1 billion annual “information tax” in higher product
costs.
