Issue
Will Congress enact legislation to examine collection and distribution of personal information via the Internet and to identify the appropriate balance to be achieved between protecting individual privacy and allowing appropriate uses of information?

Importance
As the Government becomes more sensitive to the concerns of individuals regarding the security and use of personal information, businesses, particularly those who gather information via the Internet, will be required to disclose to individuals what personal information they collect and how this data will be used.

ATA Position
ATA continues to support industry self-regulation as the most effective method to protect personally sensitive information.

Background
Until now, the federal government has adopted a hands-off approach to Internet privacy. Industry continues to police itself, evidenced by the push for websites to develop and notify users of privacy policies stating what information is collected and how it is used. Webpages increasingly offer visitors the option to "opt out" or prohibit the dissemination of data collected to third parties.

Examples of personal information include: medical records, educational records, library records, magazine subscription records, records of purchases of goods and other payments, and driver's license numbers.

Two general schools of thought exist concerning Internet privacy and how it should be regulated.

Self-Regulation - The private sector supports a policy of self-regulation; until recently, it persuaded Congress, the administration and the FTC to allow industry to police itself by setting up a voluntary system of guidelines. Industry argues that there are many complex security, cost and privacy issues that would arise if restrictive regulations were imposed on Internet transactions.

Baseline Legislation - Consumer protection groups look to Congress to regulate Internet privacy. The Federal Trade Commission supported them in its Internet privacy report released May 22, 2000. This report recommends that Congress enact legislation to ensure a minimum level of privacy protection for online consumers, establishing "basic standards of practice for the collection of information online." The Commission concluded that while self-regulatory efforts have achieved some real progress, the lack of broad-based implementation of such consumer protections online requires legislative action in order to fully protect consumers' personal information and build public confidence in electronic commerce.

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