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back to article US lawmakers publish internet privacy Bill

A new law has been proposed that mandates information to be given to website visitors to improve privacy protections in the US. It also lists types of data that can be used until people opt out, and others that can be used only with their consent. The proposal (pdf) has been published by members of the House of Representatives …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    it's not quite clear

    "Companies may collect information about individuals unless an individual affirmatively opts out of that collection,"

    Is there actually any requirement for the company to notify the individual that they are collecting data on them, as without that, opt-out consent is pretty useless.

    Unless you pro-actively write to every company in the country and explicitly opt out, then report them when they ignore it. Although the reports will, most likely, be ignored anyway, like they are here in the UK.

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  2. Alexander Hanff 1
    Stop

    This Bill is absolute rubbish

    I am working on a paper with some colleagues in the US in response to the Boucher Bill. It is a terrible bill in its current form and does nothing to wrestle control of privacy back from the corporate sector to the individual.

    One of the most dangerous areas of the bill is that it permits non-consentual collection/processing of so called "anonymised" data - Boucher seems to have based the Bill entirely on the Future of Privacy Forum "Icon" study from earlier this year which is so horribly flawed for a piece of research it beggars belief.

    I will be vehemently fighting this Bill - and you will note that other privacy advocates/groups are equally appalled by it.

    Alexander Hanff

    Privacy International.

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  3. Cortland Richmond

    Government does it!

    One may find addresses and names of FCC licensees on that agency's site. Shall that likewise require an opt-out? Because when one has radio interference, it is quite good to be be to contact the source and resolve it.

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