Tag Archives: Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011

Federal Privacy Bill doesn’t ‘Track’

Following California's introduction of an online privacy bill, Senators Kerry and McCain have introduced one at the federal level.  Formal name:  Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011.  At first glance, the federal bill seems watered-down compared to the California version.  This isn't necessarily surprising, since the same can be said about dueling spam legislation between California and the Feds.

However, the federal bill is lacking a prime component of the proposed California bill; a "Do Not Track" provision.  Also, the federal bill would vest a lot of the rulemaking power in the FTC.

I did note that some of Silicon Valley's heaviest hitters came out in favor of the federal bill, but seemed more luke-warm to the California bill.  What should we glean from that?