Boucher, Leibowitz Discuss Their Behavioral Ad Plans
Web sites should follow uniform requirements about data collection for marketing, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said at a Center for Democracy & Technology gala Tuesday night. Boucher said he plans to pursue legislation along with Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Imposing guidelines would help e-commerce, Boucher said, because consumers would become more comfortable using the Internet once they understand what’s happening with their data. The FTC recently released principles for self- regulation of behavioral advertising, and industry has said it’s working on guidelines consistent with them. New FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who spoke before Boucher, said Internet privacy is a great concern, and the commission will watch industry activity in response to the principles. He said he hopes business will respond with concrete requirements.
But Boucher said self-imposed requirements won’t be enough. “I really believe the time has come, notwithstanding the guidelines he’s put forward … to take these [guidelines] one step further.” He said he expects that legislation would require any Web site collecting information to conspicuously disclose what it gathers and how it’s used. Users should be able to opt out of collection, he said, and be able to opt in to any data collection by unaffiliated third parties. After his speech, Boucher told us legislation is needed because there’s no assurance that all Web sites would follow voluntary guidelines.
As people hear more often about data breaches and dubious data collection practices, they'll be less inclined to take part in e-commerce, Boucher said. “I think that makes people draw back.” He expects that legislation would reassure people and encourage them to use the Internet more.
Some privacy advocates want Congress to pass general privacy legislation, but Boucher told us the emphasis first should be on industries not covered by federal regulation. It’s possible another Commerce subcommittee will draft regulations for data brokers that could be added to his legislation, he said.
Boucher also spoke of broadband deployment and the country’s “unenviable position” as 16th in the world in broadband’s reach. Broadband has become essential the way telephone and electricity did, Boucher said. The money provided in the stimulus bill is a good start, but “that $7.2 billion, helpful that it is, is not our national broadband policy,” he said. Rules on the Universal Service Fund must change so the money can be spent on broadband, Boucher said.
Leibowitz told the group he'll pursue much the same course as the previous chairmen, with consumer protection a top priority. He hopes to work with Congress to bring more resources to the commission. The quality of its work is being strained by the quantity demands as Congress has added to the agency’s workload enforcement of CAN-SPAM, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and other legislation, he said. He said he looks forward to working with Julius Genachowski, the nominee to head the FCC, and Christine Varney, nominated to become assistant attorney general in the antitrust division.