And the News Continues: Lawmakers disagree on need for online privacy legislation

Shouldn't really surprise anyone…


While representatives of the online advertising industry questioned whether new laws are needed to protect consumer privacy online, several U.S. lawmakers on Thursday called for new regulations targeting online tracking.

Members of the commerce subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee were split on whether Congress should pass new privacy legislation, including regulations limiting online tracking by websites and advertising networks.

New legislation isn't needed because online advertising groups have created their own sets of rules that allow Web users to opt out of targeted advertising based on surfing habits, said Linda Woolley, executive vice president of the Direct Marketing Association, a trade group representing online advertisers. Online companies can do a better job of protecting consumer privacy than the government can, she said during a subcommittee hearing on consumer attitudes about online privacy.

The rest of the story at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9220829/Lawmakers_disagree_on_need_for_online_privacy_legislation?source=CTWNLE_nlt_security_2011-10-14&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+computerworld%2Fs%2Ffeed%2Ftopic%2F84+%28Computerworld+Privacy+News%29