Can the U.S. build consumer trust and global interoperability without creating restrictive regulations that stifle innovation? That is what the Obama administration is attempting to do in the recently released Commerce Department report Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World: A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promotional Innovation in the Global Digital Economy (the “Commerce Department Report”). According to a White House press release, the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, which was included as part of the report, is designed to “improve online consumer privacy while also ensuring the Internet remains a forum for economic growth.”

The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights

The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights contains many familiar concepts that are based on the U.S.-developed and globally recognized Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs). (See the Privacy Act of 1974, Pub. L. No.  93-579 [5 U.S.C. Section 552a]and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Privacy Framework.) The proposed framework is concerned solely with how private sector entities handle personal data in commercial settings. Consequently, the administration is making an effort to maintain flexibility and adaptability so that companies can develop codes of conduct based on these principles that take into account consumer expectations about privacy in particular market segments.

The seven principles of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights are...

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