Executive Summary
Internet users are increasingly and unknowingly giving up their rights to their private information as they increase their online activities. As other countries have developed more stringent rules on privacy, the U.S. government has taken a wait-and-see approach in terms of regulating the Internet. In fact, it is not clear which government agency is responsible for overseeing the Internet. Is it the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) or the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA)? Most recently, the U.S. government has indicated an interest in stepping up its oversight efforts and delegating the responsibility to the Department of Commerce.Regardless of what agency ends up the custodian of the Internet, this designation of responsibility should take place soon. It is essential that online privacy rights be addressed, as Eli Pariser, from MoveOn.org, states “before the bones are set in this media framework.”
There are various issues and concerns regarding online privacy. It doesn’t take much research to come up with egregious examples of unscrupulous third parties hijacking personal information to sell it for profit. There are the popular search engines that in return for providing a valuable free service to offer personalized searches, expect to collect the user’s data and to make a profit from targeted ads. And then there are the online profiles that Internet companies are developing about consumers. It took years for Google and other companies to figure out how to make their businesses profitable. This advertisement model based on consumer information will not be easily relinquished. This is why self-regulation has not worked in maintaining online privacy and must be augmented with regulations.
ZezInez 