House Republican leader Dick Armey has sent a second letter to Attorney General Janet Reno demanding clarification on the Clinton Administration's online privacy policy, after she failed to respond to his October deadline on a September letter.
Armey says he has seen draft regulations from the Commerce Department which "seem to fall short of the rhetoric employed when the new administration was announced. The rules seem overly prescriptive and excessively bureaucratic," the Texas Republican continues.
And he suggests the Clinton Administration hasn't exactly handled encryption and privacy issues in a straightforward manner. . "As this Christmas shopping season had demonstrated, e-commerce is here to stay, but it will only continue to flourish if consumers have confidence that their online transactions are secure," he tells Conservative News Service. "The administration cannot continue to unveil important online policy changes without adequate public vetting and explanation. A failure to communicate can lead to a lack of confidence in the online environment."
Armey says he agrees with Clinton goals of protecting government computer networks from outside intruders, CNS says, but the GOP leader says there are "serious policy questions about how best to achieve security in a way that protects personal privacy.
"The American people will not simply "trust" that the Justice Department, which allowed 900 FBI files containing personal information about American citizens to be released into unauthorized hands, will be more careful with their online privacy" - a reference to former White House security worker Craig Livingstone and the so-called "Filegate" flap.
The Justice Department has yet to comment about Armey's new letter.
