Big Week in Washington for Online Privacy Issues

This week, which leads up to Data Privacy Day on Jan 28, could be a big one for advancing online privacy policy in Washington (DC) and globally.

In keeping with the push to protect consumers' personal data and privacy online, the Obama administration is expected to release its white paper on privacy, endorsing a "privacy bill of rights" and calling on companies to self-regulate by adopting codes of conduct. On the other side of the pond, the European Commission on Jan 25 will propose big changes to its 17-year-old European privacy policy directive, adopting regulation that by 2014 could require companies like Google and Facebook to obtain explicit consent from consumers before collecting and using their personal data. Both events will cause companies to re-examine privacy policies and "look around the corner to anticipate future privacy policy," said Christopher Wolf, a partner with Hogan Lovells and the co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum.