New Privacy Protection Bills Introduced in House
Two bills that would enlarge personal privacy protections have been introduced by Rep. Tom Sawyer (D-OH).
Direct Marketing Association spokesman Louis Mastria had no immediate comment on the bills. “We’re still digesting them,” he said.
The first bill, HR 2135, “The Consumer Privacy Protection Act” would prohibit companies from disclosing any information about consumers until they are provided with a clear and concise description of the extent and circumstances under which such a disclosure will occur.
Such information, whether gathered online or off-line, includes Social Security numbers and personal financial data.
The measure also would prohibit companies from requiring that consumers give them any more information than is required to complete a transaction.
The bill would also prohibit companies from refusing to do business with consumers who don’t want to disclose personal information and requires firms to give consumers reasonable access to data they have gathered.
The second bill, HR 2136, would prohibit all federal government agencies gathering information for statistical purposes from disclosing it in any identifiable form. At present, only 12 agencies are bound by Office of Management and Budget regulations that prohibit such disclosure.
