February 23, 2012, US timeAdministrative white paper titled "Consumer Data Privacy in the Network Society"was signed by President Barack Obama.
This bill includes something called the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights."
Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights[1]
- Individual Control: Consumers have the right to control what personal information organizations collect and how it is used.
- Transparency: Consumers have the right to easily understand privacy and security policies.
- Respect Context: Consumers have the right to expect that organizations will collect, use, and disclose their personal information in a manner consistent with the context provided by the consumer.
- Security: Consumers have the right to have their personal information handled securely and responsibly.
- Access and Accuracy: Consumers have the right to access and correct their personal information in a usable format in a manner appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the risk that inaccurate information would produce undesirable consequences for the consumer.
- Targeted Collection: Consumers have the right to ensure that the personal information a business collects and stores is only what is appropriate.
- Accountability: Consumers have the right to assurances that their personal information will be handled by businesses in a manner that is consistent with the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.
The white paper also includes steps on how to incorporate these into Federal Regulations.
As a first step, the Do Not Track Agreement has been signed with Internet advertisers, including Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and AOL. The agreement is voluntary, but it exposes these companies to FTC oversight.
So let's take a look at the contents bit by bit.
Definition of Personal Information (Data) and Scope of the Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights defines personal data as follows:
Any data, even aggregated data, that can be linked to a specific individual is personal information. This includes data that is tied to a computer or other device. For example, an identifier on a home computer or smartphone that is used to capture usage history is personal information.
In other words, both your mobile ID and PASMO number are personal data.
(I will be gradually writing this section, so please look forward to it.)
[1] Original article:CLICK HERE.
- Individual Control: Consumers have a right to exercise control over what personal data organizations collect from them and how they use it.
- Transparency: Consumers have a right to easily understandable information about privacy and security practices.
- Respect for Context: Consumers have a right to expect that organizations will collect, use, and disclose personal data in ways that are consistent with the context in which consumers provide the data.
- Security: Consumers have a right to secure and responsible handling of personal data.
- Access and Accuracy: Consumers have a right to access and correct personal data in usable formats, in a manner that is appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the risk of adverse consequences to consumers if the data are inaccurate.
- Focused Collection: Consumers have a right to reasonable limits on the personal data that companies collect and retain.
- Accountability: Consumers have a right to have personal data handled by companies with appropriate measures in place to assure they adhere to the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.