Vol. 12, No. 3, Pg. 44. Internet Privacy.

• Author: By Sen. Ernest F. Hollings

South Carolina Lawyer

2000.

Vol. 12, No. 3, Pg. 44.

Internet Privacy

44INTERNET PRIVACYBy Sen. Ernest F. HollingsPoll after poll indicates that Americans fear that their privacy is not being sufficiently protected on the Internet. Last September, the Wall Street Journal reported that Americans' number one concern as we enter the 21st century is the loss of their personal privacy. Just this spring, Business Week reported that 57 percent of Americans believe that Congress should pass laws to govern how personal information is collected and used on the Internet. Moreover, a recent survey by the Federal Trade Commission found that 87 percent of respondents are concerned about threats to their privacy in relation to their online usage. And, while industry claims that self-regulation is working, only 15 percent of those polled by Business Week believed that the government should defer to voluntary, industry-developed privacy standards.

In May, the Federal Trade Commission issued its most recent report on the current state of Internet privacy and its Commissioners testified before the Senate Commerce Committee. The FTC has unique expertise on the issue of Internet privacy and has studied privacy online for five years. For several years, the FTC determined that industry self-regulation provided adequate protection of individuals' privacy. However, this year, the FTC concluded that industry has not sufficiently improved its self-regulatory initiatives. Accordingly, the Commission recommended that it is time for federal legislation to safeguard consumer privacy on the Internet. This recommendation carries with it particular credibility in light of the FTC's record of extensive analysis on this issue and its prior recommendations to allow self-regulation a chance to work.

In light of this recommendation, how should Congress respond? An important consumer issue like Internet privacy deserves our careful consideration.

First off, we know that if Congress does not act, the states will. Numerous state privacy laws were consid ered this past year, and many may be enacted during the next seven years. It is important that we provide the Internet industry a level playing field so that it can continue to grow into the 21st century with business certainty as to the privacy rules with which it must comply. I have introduced legislation...