Twelve companies that form the Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum, a coalition formed earlier this year, on Tuesday voiced their support for stronger federal regulations that would protect the privacy of online consumers. Companies signing off on the one-page statement include Google, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and Symantec. The statement is the coalition’s most recent action in an effort to convince Congress to pass a comprehensive federal consumer privacy law that would cover the handling of personal data.
The coalition is seeking federal legislation that would require businesses to notify consumers when collecting personal information, then allow individuals to choose how the information is used and access data they have provided to cut down on unauthorized use.
Several members of the coalition spoke to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on commerce, trade, and consumer protection to voice their concerns in a meeting held yesterday.
Meg Whitman, eBay’s president and chief executive, in favor of a single federal law was one of them.
Whitman made remarks that the Federal Trade Commission should more closely monitor how consumer information is obtained and shared on the Internet. Whitman said Web-based retailers should not be held to a higher standard than other businesses.
“Today we live in a digital economy where both beneficial and potentially harmful uses of personal information are multiplying,” according to the Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum. “The time has come for a serious process to consider comprehensive harmonized federal privacy legislation to create a simplified, uniform but flexible legal framework” for protecting consumers,” the group argued.
Major tech companies and retailers currently have to rely on an “uneven patchwork” of state laws aimed at protecting consumer privacy.
“These laws make it difficult for companies to comply and are confusing for consumers,” said Nicole Wong, Google’s associate general counsel.
“When you have so many laws all with the same aim but with different definitions, companies aren’t able to create protection in a uniform way.”
The California-based search engine has had its own recent legal battles with consumer privacy, most notably earlier this year when U.S. federal government officials demanded a fraction of online search records from the company.
