United States Moving Toward Online Privacy Rules

"United States Moving Toward Online Privacy Rules." Information Management 45, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 2011): 12-12

This is a news piece from an information technology journal that outlines how the United States government, specifically the Commerce Department and the Federal Trade Commission, are in the midst of developing privacy standards to help consumers protect their on and offline privacy. The article discusses how separate reports by the two agencies will be presented with their recommendations, such as “do not track” options for websites. The Obama administration is supporting and managing these efforts by putting together a task force and is expected to receive bi-partisan support as escalating concerns over online privacy have surfaced in recent years.

The European Commission is simultaneously working on standards to protect internet users’ personal information by revamping the European Union’s (EU) data protection rules. Their new laws are an endeavor to update outdated laws from 1995 and include rules such as: clarifying to users how their information will be used; allowing users to delete data; sending users alerts when their information has been misused.

This is current information on the status of online privacy standards in the United States. Although it is not a scholarly research article, it presents factual and relevant news on the subject of online privacy and needs to be mentioned in my research report.