Key  

Recommendations

Key
Main
   Info About You
   Past Problems
      Usage
      Accuracy
      Access
      Profiling
   Current Trends
      Who Has Access?
      Technologies
      Use of Information
   Future Policy
      Statistics
      Case Studies
      IITF Policy
      Recommendations
   Relevant Links
   Bibliography
   About the authors

Options for Protecting Privacy

In the previous section on IITF Policies we outlined the Privacy Principles suggested by the Privacy Working Group of the IITF. These principles address most of the issue very well, but leave out two key details:
  • the ability of a user to change the personal information he/she has provided voluntarily and
  • his/her ability to remove personal information from a database once provided.

If these two issues were to be amalgamated with the Privacy Principles, they would form a strong foundation upon which to build policy regarding database privacy. However, the implementation of any such policy raises more questions, most importantly who is responsible for the implementation?

There are two main choices for implementing the Privacy Principles. One, referred to as the Sectoral approach, where government activity enhances the likelyhood of success of industry-led, market-based reforms in the information gathering field. At the other end of the spectrum are those who suggest that the federal government create a central government body to impose the Privacy Principles, or a similar set of guidelines across the entire economy (public and private sectors), and enforce these regulations vigorously.

Sectoral Approach
Most advocates of the sectoral approach agree that some improvement is needed in the system, but maintain that the current approach is not fundamentally flawed. It is suggested that if the government acted in a more cohesive fashion, the problem could be solved. Among the issues they cite as justification for their views is that congress is currently debating several statutory solutions to some of the most important issues dealing with online privacy - :

  • the sanctity of medical records
  • the collection of data from children
  • and consumer privacy issues arising from online transactions

Those in favor of the sectoral approach identify four main steps the government should take to aid the protection of privacy. First, it could formally adopt the Privacy Principles. It has chosen not done so in the three years since their publication. Second, it should get its own house in order, and ensure that current government collection of data is consistent with the Privacy Principles. Thirdly, government should live up to its role of educating the people on the issue. Without increased consumer awareness of the issue, any measures are bound to fail. Lastly, the government should consider enhancing the enforcement of self-regulated issues like privacy policies.
According to supporters of this approach, these four approaches could go a long way towards living up to the goals outlined in the Privacy Principles.

Creation of a Private Entity
In New Zealand, ideas similar to the Privacy Principles have led to the creation of The Office of the Privacy Commissioner, a body which enforces the Privacy Act of 1997. Many people suggest that a similar organisation, that possessed regulatory authority, would be successful in the United States. There are a number of advantages to having a independant body that is responsible for the task, not least of which is the fact that it would be less succeptible to political pressure. However, for a variety of reasons, we feel that we cannot support such an approach. These reasons are outlined below:

  • one all-encompassing body is inconsistent with past approaches to privacy protection, and a single unified policy might not be appropriate to a specific sector or information collection task.
  • Creating another body could create an overlap with the duties of some current bodies, causing extra confusion in a complicated issue.
  • Regulatory agencies tend to be expensive.
  • Creating a new entity goes against current trends endorsed by the American people for small government and less bureaucracy. As Prsident Clinton and Vice President Gore stated in connection with the National Performance review,
    The answer for every program cannot be another program or more money.

For these reasons, we felt that we must maintain a sector, self-regulatory approach to the issue of privacy. In no way are we suggesting that this issue is not serious, or that it is acceptable to maintain the status quo -- it is NOT. However, the creation of a separate entity in a government that is already bogged down by overwhelming bureaucracy would not be an acceptable solution yet. We recommend adopting the principles outlined above for a sectoral appraoch, and only if those fail should a special government body be consiered.

Previous Sources Next