Privacy Lives joins 16 groups — including the ACLU, Center for Digital Democracy and Public Citizen — in sending a letter (pdf) to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz asking the agency “to build on its recent privacy roundtables to draft a comprehensive plan that both details the deficiencies in Americans’ privacy rights, and proposes comprehensive statutory and regulatory solutions to those problems.”

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission announced it would hold public roundtables to “explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data.” The object of the roundtables “is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation.” At the first roundtable in December, I spoke on a panel about online targeted behavioral advertising. The final roundtable was in March.

In the letter to the FTC, the groups said that, “By dint of its expertise and through the input collected from these events, the Commission is now well positioned to issue a wide ranging report – one that addresses the complex and interconnected problems of data collection, offline and online. We urge the Commission to seize this opportunity.” The Commission should take the following steps, the groups said: Read more »

Privacy Lives joined nine groups, including the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in sending an open letter (pdf) to social-neworking site Facebook concerning its privacy policies. The letter, addressed to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said:

We are glad to see that Facebook has taken steps in the past weeks to address some of its outstanding privacy problems. However, we are writing to urge you to continue to demonstrate your commitment to the principle of giving users control over how and with whom they share by taking these additional steps:

1. Fix the “app gap” by empowering users to decide exactly which applications can access their personal information.
2. Make “instant personalization” opt-in by default.
3. Do not retain data about specific visitors to third party sites that incorporate “social plugins” or the “like” button unless the site visitor chooses to interact with those tools.
4. Provide users with control over every piece of information they can share via Facebook, including their name, gender, profile picture, and networks. Read more »

In response to a discussion draft of a new privacy bill currently under consideration by the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, Privacy Lives joined nine leading privacy and consumer organizations today in calling for much stronger provisions to protect consumer privacy both online and off.

The groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, US PIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Privacy Lives, and the Center for Digital Democracy, raised their concerns in a letter (pdf) to Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher and Ranking Member Cliff Stearns.

Recognizing that “Consumers increasingly rely on the Internet and other digital services for a wide range of transactions and services, many of which involve their most sensitive affairs, including health, financial, and other personal matters,” the groups’ letter made a number of recommendations for strengthening the draft privacy bill, including: Read more »

Privacy Lives joined 10 consumer and privacy groups in sending a letter (pdf) to Congress warning that “tracking and targeting of consumers online have reached alarming levels,” and outlining the protections any online privacy legislation must include. Industry self-regulation has not provided meaningful consumer protection and legislation is needed.

“This tracking is an invasion of privacy… Consumers now rely on the Internet and other digital services for a wide variety of transactions,” the groups wrote. “These include sensitive activities, such as health and financial matters. In these contexts, tracking people’s every move online is not simply a matter of convenience or relevance. It presents serious risks to consumers’ privacy, security and dignity.”

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) chairman of the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, is expected to introduce online privacy legislation Tuesday.  The coalition’s letter was sent to all members of the U.S House of Representatives. Read more »

In a letter (pdf) to the White House, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Judiciary Committees, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, a broad coalition of more than 40 groups (including Privacy Lives, American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens Against Government Waste and the Liberty Coalition) urged opposition to the proposal by Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) to create a national identification system with biometric data on all U.S. workers. The groups said the proposal violates individual privacy, would cost hundreds of billions of dollars (likely meaning people would have to pay a government fee in order to be able to be employed) and would not solve the broken immigration system. The groups said:

Both Republicans and Democrats have opposed a National ID system. President Reagan likened a 1981 proposal to the biblical “mark of the beast,” and President Clinton dismissed a similar plan because it smacked of Big Brother. A National ID would not only violate privacy by helping to consolidate data and facilitate tracking of individuals, it would bring government into the very center of our lives by serving as a government permission slip needed by everyone in order to work. As happened with Social Security cards decades ago, use of such ID cards would quickly spread and be used for other purposes – from travel to voting to gun ownership. Read more »

National Public Radio has a story about the vacant Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Terms for the original board (created in 2004) expired in January 2008, but President Bush delayed the nomination of new board members for many months; none were confirmed by the Senate. President Obama has not yet nominated any members. As a result, the board strengthened by a 2007 law has never begun operations. (For the history of the Board, read a previous post.)

NPR reports, “The board is supposed to ensure that the government protects Americans’ privacy and civil liberties in a range of counterterrorism activities. [...] Former member Lanny Davis says the board was “extremely effective” during its existence, though he believes there were problems with the organization’s structure.”

NPR notes that several legislators, including Senators Patrick Leahy and Susan Collins, have written to President Obama about the vacancies. NPR mentions a letter from more than 30 groups (including Privacy Lives) sent to the White House urging that President Obama nominate individuals to fill the board. The groups explained that it is more critical than ever that the board convene. “As a result of the attempted Christmas Day bombing, your Administration and Congress are considering numerous policy changes that impact the privacy and freedoms of Americans, including expanding watch lists and more intrusive searches at airports. It is crucial that you nominate qualified individuals to serve on the PCLOB, so that it may begin to provide guidance as new policies and procedures are developed.”