February 23, 2012 02:32 pm EDT

White House gets behind online 'bill of rights,' companies to adopt 'do not track'

President Obama is throwing his weight behind a consumer bill of rights that includes protections against online companies in particular, and aims to safeguard customer privacy. While the plan doesn't come prepackaged with a new set of laws for companies to abide by, the Commerce Department is working to develop enforceable policies with help from the concerned parties. The bedrock of the new bill of rights is that consumers should have control over the kind of data companies collect and what they do with it. Internet firms would have to be transparent about what information is gathered and how it's used. There is also a call for limitations on the use of certain personal data. As part of the push a number of major players in the field, including Google, have agreed to include a "Do Not Track" button in their browsers and to honor the system -- the latter being a tiny detail that has made implementations of the feature ineffective until now. Hit up the source links for a few more details.

White House gets behind online 'bill of rights,' companies to adopt 'do not track' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Reuters, Wall Street Journal ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/23/white-house-gets-behind-online-bill-of-rights/

View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget