Internet Privacy
Internet Privacy Infographic
Congressional Hearing on Employment Verification
The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on employment verification. Several hearings have be held by the committee on the proposal to create a mandatory national government employment eligibility system. The current private sector system is voluntary.
View more hearings...
Coalition Calls for Transparency in Public Consumer Database
In comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, over 40 public interest organizations urged the Bureau to publish consumer complaint narratives. The Bureau currently publishes limited complaint information on financial products and services, including debt collection and credit reports. The Bureau is now considering a plan to provide consumer perspectives on experiences with the financial industry. The consumer groups support this effort and also recommend obtaining consumer consent and removing personally identifiable information before posting the complaints.
View more rulemaking...
President Pushes Consumer Privacy Forward
The President announced that he will move forward the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, a model framework for federal consumer privacy legislation.
View more legislation...
Coalition Members Promote Consumer Privacy Protection
Fifteen Privacy Coalition members representing millions of consumers and Internet users, sent a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee urging Congress to do more to protect consumer information. "Consumers today face an unfair choice: either stay offline and ignore the benefits of new technology, or plug in and run extraordinary risks to privacy and security," they wrote. "It shouldn't be this way. Consumers are more concerned about the privacy threat from big business than from big government," the letter continues. The coalition, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, National Consumers League, Privacy Activism, Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, U.S. PIRG, and World Privacy Forum, argues that current privacy laws are inadequate, and that industry self-regulation has failed, as evidenced by millions of records compromised in data breaches.
View more campaigns...
April 2016 Monthly Meeting
This month two top-level European officials joined the Privacy Coalition: Paul Nemitz, the Director for Fundamental rights and Union citizenship in the Directorate-General for Justice of the European Commission, and Giovanni Buttarelli, the European Data Protection Supervisor. Both joined the Privacy Coalition on separate days to discuss the Privacy Shield, surveillance, EU Reform, and privacy and civil liberties in the digital age.
View past meeting information...
Syndicate this site XML
Main
Top Issues Archives
March 2012 Privacy Coalition Meeting
Danny Weitzner, Esq. White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy with The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He briefed the Coalition on The White House Consumer Data Privacy in A Networked World: A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy. President Obama's Forward to the report and the report's Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights articulate the importance of privacy in the digital information age. John Morris, head of the National Telecommunication and Information Administration's Office of Policy Analysis and Development (OPAD) spoke on the multi-stakeholder process outlined in the White House consumer privacy paper. The Coalition also received a briefing from Vernon Mosley a senior cybersecurity engineer at the Federal Communication Commission in their Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau's Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division. Naomi B. Lefkovitz with the National Program Office (NPO) at National Institute of Science and Technology. She briefed the Coalition on the NPO's efforts to establish a process to move forward with the administration's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. She was joined by Jeremy Grant who leads the NPO.
September 30 Privacy Coalition Meeting -- Privacy and Biometrics from ATR to IDs
Peter Pietra, Chief Privacy Officer for the briefed the Privacy Coalition on changes made to millimeter wave Automated Target Recognition (whole body scanning) technology to address privacy and screening of air passenger. There are two forms of ATR the other is known as Backscatter x-ray, which does not have the features described by recent changes. The agency continues to work with Privacy Coalition members with constituencies, which are impacted by the deployment of the technology. Other challenges regarding the deployment of the technology include litigation by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The Coalition also received a briefing on proposed changes to update the Federal Privacy Act from Evan Cash, Professional Staff Member with the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia he is staffer to Senator Daniel K. Akaka, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. We also received a tutorial from Joy Kasaaian, International Biometrics Group, on the Science and Technology of Biometrics Identity.
Coalition Works to Protect Facebook Users
Privacy, consumer, and civil liberties groups, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, Consumer Action, American Library Association, Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook. Facebook had been secretly tracking users after they logged off of Facebook's webpage, and had recently announced changes in business practices that "[gave] the company far greater ability to disclose the personal information of its users to its business partners..."
Coalition Wants an End to Secret Watch List
Privacy Coalition members joined by other privacy, consumer rights, and civil rights organizations filed a statement to the Department of Homeland Security. The group opposed proposed changes to the Watchlist Service, a secretive government database filled with sensitive information. The agency has solicited comments on the program, which entails developing a real-time duplicate copy of the database and expanding the groups and personnel with immediate access to the records. The groups, which included: The ALA Washington Office, The Bill of Rights Defense Committee, The Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights, The Center for Media and Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Federal of America, The Cyber Privacy Project, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Liberty Coalition, OMB Watch, OpentheGovernment.org, Patient Privacy Rights, Privacy Activism, Privacy Journal, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Rights Now Coalition, and World Privacy Forum. The reply to comments they submitted focused on the security and privacy risks posed by the new system, as well as The Privacy Act. Passed by Congress in 1974, the Act requires DHS to notify subjects of government surveillance in addition to providing a meaningful opportunity to correct information that could negatively affect them.
Coalition Members Promote Consumer Privacy Protection
Fifteen Privacy Coalition members representing millions of consumers and Internet users, sent a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee urging Congress to do more to protect consumer information. "Consumers today face an unfair choice: either stay offline and ignore the benefits of new technology, or plug in and run extraordinary risks to privacy and security," they wrote. "It shouldn't be this way. Consumers are more concerned about the privacy threat from big business than from big government," the letter continues. The coalition, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, National Consumers League, Privacy Activism, Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, U.S. PIRG, and World Privacy Forum, argues that current privacy laws are inadequate, and that industry self-regulation has failed, as evidenced by millions of records compromised in data breaches.
Coalition Members Object to E-Verify
Members of the Privacy Coalition filed a statement to the Department of Homeland Security in opposition to the proposed expansion of the employment verification system, "E-Verify." The agency announced plans to incorporate state driver license records that could significantly expand the use of the Homeland Security database. The groups, which included the ACLU, ALA Legislative Office, American Policy Center, Center for Digital Democracy, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Liberty Coalition, Privacy Activism, and UNITED SIKHS said that the DHS proposal is unlawful and looks very similar to the REAL ID scheme that was previously defeated.
Hosts EU Delegation Domestic Privacy Discussion September Meeting
The Privacy Coalition hosted a discussion with a European Union Delegation, moderated by Charlie Firestone with the Aspen Institute, on key privacy issues. The topics discussed included the US Federal Privacy Act (Robert Gellman), Data Sharing and National Security (Lillie Coney-EPIC, Kate Martin-Center for National Security Studies, and Barry Steinhardt-Privacy International), Data Sharing and Consumer Rights, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Nadhira Al-Khalili, CAIR), and growing use of EU consumer data by US online industry (Jeff Chester-CDD).
Fifteen Privacy Groups File FTC Facebook Compliant
Privacy and consumer protection organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, charging that Facebook has engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices in violation of consumer protection law. The complaint states that changes to user profile information and the disclosure of user data to third parties without consent "violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook's own representations."
Privacy Coalition Members Defend Privacy of Facebook Users
Ten Privacy and consumer organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, urging the FTC to open an investigation into Facebook's revised privacy settings. The complaint, led by EPIC is signed by nine other privacy and consumer organizations, states that the "changes violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook's own representations." There has been widespread opposition from Facebook users, security experts, bloggers, and news organizations.
Privacy Coalition Members Send Comments to NIST on Smart Grid Systems
Members of the Privacy Coalition urged a federal agency to establish safeguards for Smart Grid systems that protect consumer electricity usage information from unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, or sale. Smart Grid networks, which uniquely identify individual devices and appliances, create new privacy risks and could reveal intimate details of home life. EPIC recommended that policies be established to safeguard consumer privacy, including limitations on data collection, enforceable privacy practices, new security standards, and independent oversight.
Congressional Committee Reviewing Issues Raised in Privacy Coalition Letter
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson has responded to the Privacy Coalition Letter regarding the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security. Chairman Thompson said that "the Committee is in the process of reviewing the programs outlined" in the letter, and thanked the Coalition for bringing the issues to the attention of the committee. He further stated that the Committee "will continue to examine the Department's programs and policies and vigorously address privacy concerns and issues." For more information, see
FISA Reform Bill Introduced in the House
Representatives Conyers, Nadler, and Scott introduced two bills today that would amend the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 will enhance reporting and judicial oversight of law enforcement powers, including the National Security Letter process. The FISA Amendments Act of 2009 will place new limits on the government's ability to collect and store Americans' communications without a warrant and repeals retroactive immunity.
Privacy Campaign on Google Book Settlement
August 21, 2009 is the deadline for organizations, authors, and individuals to express their views on the erosion of the freedom to read anonymously. Civil liberties and privacy organizations are urging Internet users to tell Google to adopt privacy protections for the Google Book Search. A judge in New York will determine later this year whether to approve the proposed settlement that would establish the service and give Google access to detailed personal information without any privacy safeguards. The settlement would also allow the collection of revenue by parties that are not the writers or owners of "orphaned" works. For more information, see EPIC Google Books Settlement and Privacy.
EU Data Protection Commissioners Brief the Privacy Coalition
On March 11, 2009, the Privacy Coalition hosted a luncheon discussion with Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor, and Artemi Rallo, the Director of the Spanish Data Protection Agency. They briefed the coalition on data protection developments in Europe. Mr. Hustinx and Mr. Rallo are two of the leading European policy makers in the privacy field.
New Identity Theft Report
On March 18, 2009, Privacy Coalition member, the Consumer Federation of America released a new report, "To Catch a Thief: Are Identity Theft Services Worth the Cost?" The report investigates the types of identity theft protection offered by companies, the cost for these services, how they describe what they do, and claims made regarding benefits to customers. The report also includes a list of 10 things that individuals can do to protect themselves and detect fraud.
Coalition Members Nominate Privacy Experts to HIT Policy Committee
Fourteen members of the Privacy Coalition joined a letter in support of the nomination of Robert Ellis Smith, Pam Dixon, Dr. Deborah Peel, and Dr. Latanya Sweeney to serve on the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee. The announcement for the HIT Policy Committee was made in the Federal Register on February 25, with March 6, set as the deadline for nominations. The HIT Policy Committee will make recommendations on the implementation of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure to the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology.
Privacy Groups Successfully Challenge Facebook
Hours before about a dozen members of the Privacy Coalition led by EPIC planned to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission regarding changes to Facebook’s Terms of Service, the social network service announced that it will restore the original policy. The new Terms of Service were announced on Feb. 4, were widely criticized, and were to be the subject of the EPIC complaint. Facebook users observed that, under the revised policies, Facebook asserted broad, permanent, and retroactive rights to users' personal information - even after they deleted their accounts.
ACLU Publishes Report on Fusion Centers
The ACLU releases a report on Fusion Centers, which explores the secretive data collection and sharing program. The goal of the national fusion center program is to develop surveillance models that measure how suspicious the data of individuals might look. The report raises questions about the effectiveness of a surveillance project intended to watch over 300 million people. The program also incorporates the data wearhouses of private companies who are invited to participate in the project.
Coalition Sets Out Framework for Effective ID Theft Legislation
A coalition of privacy and consumer advocacy groups have set out a framework for effective legislation to address the growing problem of identity theft. The groups recommend strong notification requirements, better consumer control over personal information, limits on the use of the SSN, regulation of commercial data brokers, and protection for good state privacy initiatives. The annual cost of identity theft exceeds $50 billion.
[More on Regulation of Commercial Data brokers]
