Which Way Internet Privacy?

• Author: Glover, K. Daniel

Momentum toward enforcing some kind of privacy standards for the Web has stalled. Without clear impetus from government, the stage may be set for industry self-regulation efforts.

Late last year, a Washington research group specializing in technology policy predicted that 2001 could be the year for breaking the longstanding impasse over Internet privacy. Noting that the debate finally had a central theme -- whether online consumers must directly "opt in" to the sharing of their personal information or whether companies simply must give them the choice to "opt out" -- the Delaney Policy Group argued in its "Tech Policy 2001" report that "some federal government actions seem unavoidable" in 2001. (See the report at www.delaneypolicy.com/ publications/tp200l.htm.)

The analysis didn't seem all that bold at the time. Within weeks of its release, key lawmakers such as Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), a co-chairman of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, were predicting much the same thing. The electronics trade group AeA even bucked the technology industry line on privacy by calling for federal legislation.

But expectations of a privacy consensus have proven premature. Powerful legislators who pushed the issue to the fore have not revived their bills, Timothy Muris, confirmed May 25 as the new head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), refused to say at a confirmation hearing whether he would back the agency's endorsement of federal privacy legislation -- an endorsement the agency made last year after two years of emphasizing industry self-regulation. And at the state level, attorneys general who could play a role in enforcing any federal law are divided over what their privacy stance should be.

Privacy advocates see hope in the Senate's sudden shift to Democratic control, thanks to Sen. James Jeffords' decision to bolt the GOP. But no longer do policymakers and political observers use words like "inevitable" and "substantial" when discussing Internet privacy legislation; instead, they talk of being cautious, sober and incremental.

"People have realized that the issue is much more complex than some of the self-styled privacy advocates want them to believe," says Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). "There is no simple solution to this problem, and specifically there is no simple legislative solution."

Is There a Champion Out There?

Observers credit the change in outlook to numerous factors, including the...