The recent controversy over DoubleClick's backing down on plans to identify anonymous Web surfers has prompted action from New York's state Senate - lawmakers there have unwrapped a package of proposed new restrictions on Internet firms gathering and using customer information.
This as identity theft becomes one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States - not only are there said to be some 400,000 such victims per year, but computer hackers have recently boasted of hitting Web sites like credit agencies which collect personal information.
The legislation is said also to propose similar restrictions on credit companies, schools, telemarketers, hospitals, pharmacies, and other groups who collect and use such information. But it was the DoubleClick move which raised the most eyebrows last week, as privacy watchdogs objected to plans by which firms collect and share identifying information, rather than just demographic information.
The Senate package also would make it a crime to perform "surreptitious video surveillance" in a private residence without consent, according to Reuters.
"Our recommendations were guided by a belief that individuals have a basic right to know who is collecting personal information, how it is being used, and whether that information is shared or sold without their knowledge or approval," says New York state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno in a prepared statement.
The Senate wants to make it a crime to obtain personal information with the deliberate intent to use it "to get goods or services in another person's name". It would also bar prisoners from tapping into personal information when they perform contract work on computers. And it would also criminalize using similar medical or health data for reasons having nothing to do with a patient's treatment.
Reuters says a New York Senate task force studied privacy issues for a year, and the Republican-controlled legislative body is expected to begin approving the new package next week. The state Assembly, controlled by Democrats, plans two hearings this month on consumer privacy, e- and otherwise.
