Privacy Groups Push FTC For National Privacy Plan

Consumer privacy groups want the Federal Trade Commission to come up with a privacy rights plan similar to the Federal Communications Commission's comprehensive National Broadband Plan.

The FTC has held consumer privacy workshops toward the end of producing a report this fall, and groups including the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumers Union, ACLU. the Benton Foundation and Public Citizen, want bold statutory and regulatory recommendations.

In a letter to FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz, they asked the agency to 1) establish a comprehensive privacy law that spells out consumer rights to personal information; 2) come up with specific regulations for information collection online by the ad industry; 3) look at location-based targeting and digital signage; and 4) make it easier for the public to understand the commission's enforcement actions and their significance.

Others signing on to the letter were Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Essential Information, National Consumers League, Privacy Lives, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, US PIRG, and the World Privacy Forum.