The White House Report. On February 23, 2012, the White House released a report entitled Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World: A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy, setting forth the Obama Administration's blueprint for strengthening online privacy. The centerpiece of the Report is a proposed "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights" designed to give consumers greater control over how their personal data is used on the Internet.

The Privacy Bill of Rights lays out seven core principles that online users should reasonably expect from every company doing business online: (1) Individual Control over what personal data companies collect from them and how they use it; (2) Transparency in the form of easily understandable and accessible information about the company's privacy and security practices; (3) Respect for Context such that personal data is collected, used and disclosed in ways that are consistent with the context in which consumers provide the data; (4) Security that guarantees secure and responsible handling of personal data; (5) Access and Accuracy to request, receive and correct personal data in usable formats, in a manner that is appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the risk of adverse consequences to consumers if the data is inaccurate; (6) Focused Collection that reasonably limits the personal data that companies collect and retain; and (7) Accountability on the part of companies in the form of appropriate policies and practices that ensure adherence to the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.