back to article US Senators hope to crack down on the trade of private information

Four US senators are introducing legislation aimed at turning the screws on businesses that gather up and sell citizens' personal information. Senators Edward Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Al Franken (D-MN) have teamed up to introduce the Data-broker Accountability and Transparency Act …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unless they make it illegal...

    Longer EULA's and more shit to click.

    "Yes I Agree...still."

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    is this an American version of the Right to be Forgetten

    I just hope it makes it into law with no exemptions. There also needs to be an amendment that specifically prevents any government entity from taking up the role of data salesmen.

    1. Ole Juul

      Re: is this an American version of the Right to be Forgetten

      I just hope it makes it into law with no exemptions.

      I agree . . . but seriously, no exemptions? Haha! There will need to be enough of those to make the law ineffective, otherwise it won't pass.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Sounds interesting, but....

    A puzzle for you. What do all these Senators have in common?

    "Senators Edward Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Al Franken (D-MN)"

    In case you missed it, it's the "D" in front of the acronyms of the states they are from. The Senate is now controlled by guys who have a "R" there--and none of them seem to be co-sponsoring this bill. These R guys are the ones who think that attempts to enforce net neutrality are big government telling us what we can say or see, except in those occasions where they invoke communism outright. I don't think the R-team is going to be excited about regulating data brokers and aggregators (read: private enterprise; really read: corporate contributors).

    So in this case, I'm fairly sure that D stands for "Don't think this bill is going anywhere".

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Sounds interesting, but....

      'So in this case, I'm fairly sure that D stands for "Don't think this bill is going anywhere".'

      OTOH look at it this way: it's an indication that some politicos are starting to get the message. That's progress.

      1. Looper
        Thumb Down

        Re: Sounds interesting, but....That's progress.

        Hardly. The US has one of the worst records of any civilised country regarding data privacy and/or protection.

    2. Malmesbury

      Re: Sounds interesting, but....

      Actually, this is a cross party issue - just as in the UK. In both countries there is a substantial portion of the political establishment that believes that collecting lots and lots of data about every one is just great - especially when the government shares it for free.

      Oh, and they get an exemption for them and their friends, contributors etc.

      However, there is a growing segment on both sides of the political divide, in both countries, that disagrees.

      Lobby them and then vote according to the actual record/views of the candidate.....

  4. James 51

    I think they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell but good luck to them.

  5. auburnman

    Wouldn't Google and Facebook count as data brokers? Sorry to be my usual cynical self but this is bound to be buried under a ton of lobbying.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Does selling ads to advertisers using the data you've collected count as "selling" the personal information. I think it should, but that should be called out in the definition.

      Perhaps Google's massive lobbying arm has already insured that the definition is written in a way that won't count them. You'll know if it includes them by whether they object to this bill or support it.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You haven't even touched the lobbying explosion to come. The way I read this, at least, the credit bureaus - read Experian et al - would come under the scope of the act. They've made a fortune by ruthlessly ignoring their data base errors, and won't want to pay the costs of correcting all that now, nor to be liable for their incompetence.

  6. Afernie

    Really?

    "The era of data keepers has given way to an era of data reapers. We need to shed light on this ‘shadow’ industry of surreptitious data collection that has amassed covert dossiers on hundreds of millions of Americans"

    Representatives of the US government 'going after' a 'shadow industry' of surreptitious data collection? Can't take... much.. more.. irony....

  7. earl grey
    FAIL

    too many questions

    How will i actually be able to identify information about ME in the database...and actually keep other people OUT of that information and who is going to guarantee that they haven't already hived off the info to someone else?

    There are so many specialized groups out there collecting information and building databases you don't even know about (ever rented an apartment? you're in a database)...etc., etc.

    I would love for this to work, but like James 51 said; I don't think they have a snowballs chance...

    for right now i have to give them a fail.

  8. Identity
    Big Brother

    Good idea

    ...even if it has a snowball's chance, given the Repuglican control of the Congress. Still however, physician — heal thyself!

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doesn't this just mean...

    ...that the Senators desire larger bribes?

  10. D Moss Esq

    Nothing to do with the UK. No, wait ...

    One company that will be following the progress of the DATA Act with interest is Experian, the credit referencing agency and data broker which unwittingly sold personal data to a crook for nine months until the US Secret Service told them about it, please see KrebsOnSecurity.

    Experian were hauled over the coals by Senator Rockefeller's Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation on 18 December 2013. He put them on notice then. And now, good as his word, here's the DATA Act.

    So what? Nothing to do with us here in the UK, surely.

    But Experian are an "identity provider" to the UK Government Digital Service's Identity Assurance scheme, now officially known as GOV.UK Verify (RIP): "GOV.UK Verify is the new way for you to prove who you are online, so you can use services on GOV.UK safely". It wasn't very safe in the US. How safe is it in the UK?

    Collecting personal data and then selling it is the business of all sorts of organisations. Take Verizon, for example.

    You probably think of Verizon as a telco. That's not how they think of themselves: "Ultimately, we don’t see ourselves as a data provider; we see ourselves as an ad platform that helps brands and consumers connect".

    Verizon, like Experian, are "identity providers" to GOV.UK Verify (RIP). If you use that system via Verizon, are you safely proving on-line that you are who you say you are? Or are you helping Verizon to connect you with brands?

  11. AdamG57

    Surely @James 51. That could be updated to "A Snowden's chance at trial?'

  12. Keven E.

    Call it in the air

    With this as part of the key to the definition of "data-broker", the legislation is useless:

    "...concerning an individual who is not a customer or..."

    It's not just marketing that calls everyone a customer.

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