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Potomac Crossings --By George Mason The Need for a Privacy Czar The assumption in Congress is that business self-regulation won't work and the U.S. government needs to create a Privacy Czar to coordinate consumer and business information protection among federal agencies. Such an action would have a profound effect on the way timeshare markets its wares and controls its sales costs. Two bills have been introduced in the House. The first, H.R. 4049, is called the Privacy Commission Act. Authored by Asa Hutchinson (R-ARK), the bill has been approved by the Government Reform Committee. It would create a Privacy Protection Commission charged with studying e-privacy issues and recommending congressional action. The other bill by Representatives Tom Davis (R-VA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) is called the Cyber Security Information Act. This bill would create a federal Office of Information Security and Technical Protection. It would coordinate federal agency information-technology efforts. As a part of the act, a federal Office of Information Policy would be headed by a chief information officer (CIO) appointed by the president. As the election moves along, Republicans will advocate self-policing by high-tech companies and Democrats will advocate a federal "Online Bill of Rights." The battle will be fought on two fronts. First, governmental protection for children against hate, violence and pornography found freely and globally on the Web. Second, protection for their parents and grandparents from interstate and international consumer fraud. The Democratic proposals will emphasize citizen protection from private sector solicitations and the need for confidential financial and medical records. Their proposals, however, will contain no provisions restricting government access to private records. The Republican proposals will emphasize self-regulation in which citizens can choose to participate in data gathering programs in order to obtain perceived benefits such as market personalization. In a related move, the Commission on America's National Interests issued its findings. This bipartisan group from the foreign policy community included Senators Bob Graham (D-FLA) and John McCain (R-ARIZ), former Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) and former White House advisors Condoleeza Rice and Brent Scowcroft. Their report concluded "The rapid development and explosive expansion in the use of information technologies provide the past decade's greatest promise for the United States' continued growth and well-being. Continued dominance in cyberspace and information technology is vital to America's national interest." The eGovernment Web Privacy Coalition announced its formation. Coordinated by the National Information Consortium and advised by the Progress & Freedom Foundation, the Coalition is supported by Cisco Systems, Compaq Corporation, the Digital Signature Trust and Oracle Corporation. Its goal is to improve privacy practices for state and local governments. The U.S. Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce has also issued a report on the administration's concrete steps to promote the e-society. Their initiative will direct federal agencies to use information technology to: Expand access to higher-quality, more cost effective healthcare Make it easier for parents to evaluate the performance of local schools All people to learn and acquire new skills at a time, place and pace convenient to them Change the way teachers and students learn, and prepare students for the high-tech workplace of the new century Make it easier to help people move from physical workplace locations to virtual offices located anywhere Improve the quality of life for Americans with disabilities through new technologies such as speech recognition or text-to-speech programs Protect our environment for future generations Improve our ability to detect and respond to natural and man-made disasters The three major government initiatives will be to make sure information technologies benefit all institutions and all segments of society equally, to enrich lives through distance learning, telemedicine and telecommuting and to help the digitally disenfranchised gain access to computers and the Internet. The central issues of control and autonomy on the Net will boil down to this issue: Should government regulation or industry self-regulation become the base for electronic commerce? The recently released Pew Internet consumer privacy study showed that over 80 percent of consumers agreed that companies should be bound by rules. Of those who favored rules, 50 percent favored users setting the rules, a quarter favored government rules and the remainder were undecided or suggested that Internet companies should be responsible for rule-making. The betting at the moment is that the right mix will be determined on an issue-by-issue basis. Taxation of the Net, privacy, consumer protection, intellectual property rights, and legal liability will call for differing self-regulation and government regulatory models panelists at a recent Cyberspace Symposium concluded. "Don't think one size fits all," said Technology Network president Roberta Katz. "Business-to-business, business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer transactions are unique to themselves." "The blunt fact is that the private sector has failed to even define the terms of the debate," said George Keyworth, chairman of the Progress & Freedom Foundation. The panel agreed. Consensus plagues those who advocate self-regulation. Companies have been slow to come to terms with the issue, devote resources to policies and implementation and agree to monitor themselves, the panel concluded. "The Internet changes all the rules and may leave the consumer feeling both powerless and agitated," said conference speaker Marty Abrams. For consumers to have trust in business, Abrams continued, " businesses must remember this formula - T=VSP. That is to say trust equals value, security and appropriate information. Without all three, trust will not exist." Without trust, self-regulation is impossible. ###

George Mason, 1725-92, was known as the Sage of Gunston Hall. His Virginia declaration of rights, written in 1776, was the model for the first section of the Declaration of Independence. A friend of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, Mason was an original drafter of the Constitution and the first ten amendments to the Bill of Rights. He refused, however, to sign the final version of the Constitution because he thought it did too little for individuals and, without the Bill of Rights, gave too much power to the government.This column honors his memory. CURRENT NEWS: ALL HEADLINES Timeshare || Financial || Resorts/Casinos || Misc. Travel || NEWS ARCHIVES EMAIL SEARCH HOME To report broken links or other problems with this site please contact: webmaster@thetimesharebeat.com ©1999-2000 The Timeshare Beat all rights reserved