By Brendan Greeley
This morning the White House released its Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, a proposal to protect online users from being tracked by websites without their knowledge. “American consumers can’t wait any longer for clear rules of the road that ensure their personal information is safe online,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “As the Internet evolves, consumer trust is essential for the continued growth of the digital economy.”
Hard to argue with that. In response, Google released a statement, as did industry group Digital Advertising Alliance, agreeing on the importance of protecting consumer privacy. The administration’s plan offers a thorough, considered recommendation that “stakeholders”—industry, government and, one hopes, consumer advocacy groups—agree on a set of standards, in line with those in other countries, to be codified by Congress and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Google, for instance, has offered to put a “do not track” button on its Chrome browser. All you need to know about the DAA’s announcement is that its title included the phrase “self-regulatory program.” Facebook kept noticeably quiet.
We’re not being honest with ourselves. And by “we” I mean consumers, those whose privacy the President, Google, and the DAA would protect. Google, Pandora, Facebook—each offers value in exchange for no money. This is not to lionize these three companies, because they’re not doing the Lord’s work out of love for mankind. They are companies, and soon all three will be answerable to shareholders. This is not a bad thing, but we shouldn’t pretend it’s not a thing.
Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/top-news/the-consumer-privacy-bill-of-rights-are-we-the-consumers-or-are-we-the-product-02232012.html
This morning the White House released its Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, a proposal to protect online users from being tracked by websites without their knowledge. “American consumers can’t wait any longer for clear rules of the road that ensure their personal information is safe online,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “As the Internet evolves, consumer trust is essential for the continued growth of the digital economy.”
Hard to argue with that. In response, Google released a statement, as did industry group Digital Advertising Alliance, agreeing on the importance of protecting consumer privacy. The administration’s plan offers a thorough, considered recommendation that “stakeholders”—industry, government and, one hopes, consumer advocacy groups—agree on a set of standards, in line with those in other countries, to be codified by Congress and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Google, for instance, has offered to put a “do not track” button on its Chrome browser. All you need to know about the DAA’s announcement is that its title included the phrase “self-regulatory program.” Facebook kept noticeably quiet.
We’re not being honest with ourselves. And by “we” I mean consumers, those whose privacy the President, Google, and the DAA would protect. Google, Pandora, Facebook—each offers value in exchange for no money. This is not to lionize these three companies, because they’re not doing the Lord’s work out of love for mankind. They are companies, and soon all three will be answerable to shareholders. This is not a bad thing, but we shouldn’t pretend it’s not a thing.
Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/top-news/the-consumer-privacy-bill-of-rights-are-we-the-consumers-or-are-we-the-product-02232012.html
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