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Privacy. . . the Congress starts to act. . . and act. . . and act. . .

The Internet is growing at an astounding pace, with approximately five million websites currently in existence and 64 million regular Internet users each month in the United States alone. Financial transactions over the Internet have experienced enormous growth and will continue to grow, as more and more companies see the Internet as a viable way to do business and consumers enjoy the luxury of shopping from their own living rooms. Yet, with all of the progress the Internet and other technology can bring to our daily lives, the advancement of such technology raises serious concerns about consumer privacy protections. Consumers increasingly are having their privacy invaded by criminals, businesses and even their government.

The difficulty in balancing protections for consumer privacy rights, while not interfering with the booming digital economy through over-regulation of new technology has made privacy a hot-button issue for the 107th Congress. Already, numerous bills have been introduced this year, some of which are listed below:

H.R. 583
Privacy Commission Act

Establishes a bipartisan commission to study and make policy recommendations on a wide variety of privacy issues.

Latest Action: Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform

Sponsor: Representative Asa Hutchinson (R-Arkansas) (Introduced 2/13/2001)

Cosponsors:

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) Rep. Robert E. Cramer, Jr. (D-Alabama)

Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) Rep. James C. Greenwwod (R-Pennsylvania)

Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) Rep. Frank D. Lucas (R-Oklahoma)

Rep. James P. Moran (D-Virginia) Rep. Bob Riley (R-Alabama)

H.R. 237
Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act

Requires website operators to post their privacy guidelines and give consumers the ability to elect out of having their personal information used by the operator for marketing purposes or sold, distributed, disclosed or otherwise made available to a third party. Also, it establishes self-regulatory guidelines that are issued by seal programs or representatives of the marketing or online industries and are approved by the Federal Trade Commission as containing all the requirements set forth in subsection (b) of the bill. These baseline guidelines would preempt stronger state laws.

Latest Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Sponsor: Representative Anna Eshoo (D-California) (Introduced 1/20/2001)

Cosponsors:
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Illinois)

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-California) Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Massachusetts)

S. 197
Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act of 2001

Prohibits any computer software from collecting information that personally identifies the user of such software without notification and the user"s consent. The bill exempts the prohibition in the following circumstances: (a) to determine whether or not the user is a licensed or authorized user of the software; (b) to provide, upon request of the user, technical support; and (c) to allow an employer to monitor the computer usage of employees while such employees are in the scope of employment as defined by applicable federal, state and local laws.

Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Sponsor: Senator John Edwards (D-North Carolina) (Introduced 1/29/2001)

Cosponsor: Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D-South Carolina)


H.R. 113
Wireless Telephone Spam Protection Act

Seeks to amend section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the use of text, graphic, or image messaging systems of wireless telephone systems to transmit unsolicited commercial messages.

Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Sponsor: Representative Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) (Introduced 1/3/2001)

Cosponsors: None

H.R. 260
Wireless Privacy Protection Act of 2001

Seeks to amend section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 to require wireless service providers to disclose how they use information pertaining to customer location and requires written consent by the customer before such information can be collected and used.

Last Action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Sponsor: Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey) (Introduced 1/30/2001)

Cosponsors: None

H.R. 91
Social Security On-line Privacy Protection Act

Prohibits interactive computer services from disclosing to a third party a person"s social Security account number or related personal identifiable information without written consent.

Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Sponsor: Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey) (Introduced 1/3/2001)
Cosponsors: None

S. 30
Financial Information Privacy Protection Act of 2001

Requires financial institutions to obtain customer consent when sharing personal information with affiliated companies or other third parties.

Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Sponsor: Senator Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Maryland) (Introduced 1/22/2001)
Cosponsors:

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois)

Senator John Edwards (D-North Carolina) Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

Senator John F. Kerry (D-Massachusetts) Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vermont)

Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island)

S. 290
Student Privacy Protection Act

Requires schools to adopt policies that require parental consent before information can be collected from students for commercial purposes.

Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Sponsor: Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) (Introduced 2/8/2001)
Cosponsors: Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-Alabama)

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