Reps. Barton and Markey vow to push ahead with 'Do Not Track' legislation

Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-MA) vowed to pushed ahead with their "Do Not Track Kids Act" despite voluntary privacy commitments from Web companies. The companies' commitment coincided with the White House's declaration of a "Privacy Bill of Rights"— a set of principles for how companies should handle user information. The administration plans to work with companies and privacy advocates to turn the set of principles into an industry code of conduct. Reps Barton and Markey commended the administration's work, but said voluntary commitments wouldn't be enough to protect consumer privacy.

“I am happy the White House is taking consumer privacy serious, working with private industry to develop a privacy bill of rights for Internet companies to follow,” Rep Barton said. “However, without the adoption of this list of “best practices” by Internet companies, the new guidelines will not be enforceable. The absence of an enforcement mechanism means consumers remain unprotected. That is why I feel Congress must act to ensure transparency among Internet companies that engage in data collection and usage. I hope this first step energizes my colleagues to join me in pushing for stricter privacy measures that gives every consumer the power to decide how their personal information is used.”

Rep Markey called the privacy framework "an important starting point." “Consumers, not corporations, should be in control of personal information. Voluntary, self-regulatory efforts are not a substitute for laws that keep consumers information safe from prying eyes," he said.