Finding common ground, but no agreement on protecting online privacy

Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy and Linda Woolley with the Digital Marketing Association have very different views on how far Congress should go to protect consumer privacy online.

But during a taped appearance this week on C-Span's "The Communicators" program, they did agree on a few things about the debate --- key among them being that information about Web users has become a commodity.

"Consumers have to understand personal data is a commodity," said Woolley, the DMA's executive vice president of government affairs.

Appearing on the program after Woolley, Chester agreed that information about consumers' Web surfing habits is "the new currency. ... Data is power."

That data, collected while consumers surf the Web, is used to help advertisers and marketers target ads at Internet users based on their interests.

Chester and Woolley also agree that draft privacy legislation proposed by two key House lawmakers aimed at setting basic rules is flawed.

Woolley argued that the draft bill from Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and the panel's ranking Republican Cliff Stearns of Florida, could have a "dramatic effect" on direct marketers and endanger the advertising-based model that drives much of the free content on the Web.

The draft bill would require websites to provide more information about what they are collecting and allow consumers to opt out of having personally identifiable information collected about them. It would require consumers to opt-in to having personally identifiable information shared with third parties except for advertising networks that allow consumers to edit or opt-out of the profiles of their surfing habits.

Woolley said her industry is taking steps on their own to address consumer concerns about privacy, adding that the "last thing we want to do is make our customers angry." In the coming weeks, her group will be unveiling a new online self-regulatory program featuring an icon that will appear on third-party websites providing consumers with information and choices about advertising directed at them.

Chester and other privacy advocates, however, say the Boucher-Stearns draft does not go nearly far enough, saying the "notice and consent" model embraced by the bill does little to actually protect consumer privacy online. He also dismissed Woolley's claims that the bill could jeopardize the current advertising-supported content model of the Web.

"The idea that the Internet is going to go bankrupt if we protect privacy is absurd," Chester argued.

Both sides, however, will have plenty of time to continue the debate. Boucher and Stearns said Thursday that the issue will have to wait until next year when they hope to hold hearings and a markup on their legislation.