FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 12, 2001

THE PRIVACY COALITION ANNOUNCES NEW PRIVACY INITIATIVE The Privacy Pledge Sets Standard for Privacy Proposals in Congress WASHINGTON, DC—The Privacy Coalition, a nonpartisan coalition of consumer, civil liberties, educational, library, labor, and family-based groups, presented "The Privacy Pledge"—the standard for future protection of privacy. Privacy is the major social issue of the information society and the top technology issue in the 107th Congress.

Member groups of The Privacy Coalition include: the American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Media Education, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers Union, Eagle Forum, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), Junkbusters, Media Access Project, National Consumers League, NetAction, Privacy Foundation, Privacy International, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

The Privacy Coalition invites members of federal and state legislatures to sign the pledge and thus protect one of the most important rights of Americans. The provisions of the pledge outline the necessary steps for future steps to protect privacy.

The Privacy Pledge reads as follows:

Privacy is one of America's most fundamental values.

The Fourth Amendment states that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." In addition, the U.S. has adopted many laws protecting Americans from privacy invasive practices by both the public and private sectors.

Recognizing the need to protect this essential freedom, I, (insert Member's name), pledge to my constituents in (State and District) and to the American people that I will support a privacy framework to safeguard the rights of Americans in this information age.

This framework includes:

  1. the Fair Information Practices: the right to notice, consent, security, access, correction, use limitations, and redress when information is improperly used,
  2. independent enforcement and oversight,
  3. promotion of genuine Privacy Enhancing Technologies that limit the collection of personal information and legal restrictions on surveillance technologies such as those used for locational tracking, video surveillance, electronic profiling, and workplace monitoring, and
  4. a solid foundation of federal privacy safeguards that permit the private sector and states to implement supplementary protections as needed.
______________________ Signature

______________________ Date

The Privacy Pledge was publicly presented in the First Amendment Lounge of the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Monday, February 12, at 9:30 a.m.

CONTACT:

American Association of Law Libraries http://www.aallnet.org/ (202) 662-9200

American Library Association Washington Office http://www.alawash.org/ (202) 628-8410

American Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu.org/ (202) 544-1681

Center for Media Education http://www.cme.org/ (202) 331-7833

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility http://www.cpsr.org/ (650) 322-3778

Consumer Federation of America http://www.consumerfed.org/ (202) 387-6121

Consumer Project on Technology http://www.cptech.org/ (202) 387-8030

Consumers Union http://www.consumer.org/ (202) 462-6262

Eagle Forum http://www.eagleforum.org/ (202) 544-0353

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) http://www.epic.org/ (202) 483-1140

International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) http://www.uaw.org/ (202) 828-8500

Junkbusters http://www.junkbusters.com/ (908) 753-7861

Media Access Project http://www.mediaaccess.org/ (202) 232-4300

National Consumers League http://www.nclnet.org/ (202) 835-3323

NetAction http://www.netaction.org/ (415) 775-8674

Privacy Foundation http://www.privacyfoundation.org/ (303) 871-4971

Privacy International http://www.privacyinternational.org/

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse http://www.privacyrights.org/ (619) 298-3396

Privacy Times http://www.privacytimes.com/ (202) 829-3660

U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) http://www.pirg.org/ (202) 546-9707