Public wants online privacy rules, US official says

Daniel Weitzner, associate administrator in the Office of Policy Analysis and Development at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, says US Web users are increasingly asking for tougher online privacy protections, even as they give more of their personal data to Web sites -- and Internet-based companies are asking for certainty about privacy rules from US regulators even as they also ask for flexibility to create new products.

The US has "robust" privacy rules for some industries, but there's a growing call for baseline privacy rules, Weitzner said during an online privacy forum sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Technology Policy Institute. The NTIA and its parent agency, the Department of Commerce, began considering the policy options for online privacy about a year ago, but they haven't issued a formal position on whether additional rules are needed. The agency has heard from both consumers and online companies while it examines online privacy policy, he said. "People won't want to feel that they're out there completely unprotected," Weitzner said. "The fact that consumers are asking for a greater sense of urgency shouldn't come as a surprise." There's little agreement over what new privacy rules should look like, however, Weitzner said. There are examples of older privacy laws that have worked, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which encourages consumers to share their data but protects them from misuse, he said.