On 27 February 2015 the White House released a discussion draft of its Consumer Data Privacy Bill. The following measures and approaches are presented in this bill:
- Strengthening consumers’ trust and companies’ legal certainty regarding online interactions and data streams.
- Setting baseline requirements in terms of data-processing for all types of companies and sectors.
- Articulating concise guidelines for companies on collecting and processing data with respect to scope, purpose and degree of transparency.
However, several consumer associations criticized this draft. The Consumer Federation of America characterized the bill as an attempt to weaken the existing consumer data protection, since it fails to provide consumers with clear and actionable rights. Instead of proposing specific regulations it is left to the companies to decide upon a code of conduct and what determines an adequate use of consumer data.
Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer advocacy group in Washington, commented on the bill as follows: “While it claims to provide rights to consumers, behind its flimsy policy curtain is a system that gives real control to the companies that now gather our information.”
Further information und the draft
Source: The White House