Internet Firms Should Upgrade Privacy Policies, Lawmakers Say
Republican Senator Mike Johanns, of Nebraska poses for a photo in Washington. Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Internet companies should simplify their privacy policies and give computer users more power to limit sharing of personal information, U.S. senators said.
Often online privacy policies aren’t read by consumers because they don’t understand them and don’t realize that websites are tracking their browsing, Senator Mike Johanns, a Nebraska Republican, said today.
“I don’t think this is what people are signing up for” when they use the Internet, Johanns said at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing.
Lawmakers are considering whether legislation is needed following several recent web-privacy controversies. Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, has been criticized by U.S. lawmakers and European regulators for what the company said was inadvertent information gathering from unsecured wireless networks.
Concerns about privacy helped land Facebook Inc. in the bottom 5 percent of a recent customer satisfaction survey. In May the company simplified privacy settings to make it easier for people to protect personal data after an outcry over the original settings.
Senator Jay Rockefeller, the commerce committee chairman, said Internet companies constantly track what sites consumers visit and which ads they click on.
“Can consumers demand the same degree of anonymity on the Internet that they have in a shopping mall,” said Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat.
Company Testimony
Privacy executives at Google, Facebook, Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc. are scheduled to answer the committee’s questions later today.
Companies should consider offering consumers a clear option on whether they are willing to share health and bank records, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz said.
Without more clarity, there may be “more interest in Congress about more prescriptive rules,” he said.
In prepared remarks, company officials said they are offering their customers more control over sharing personal information.
“Users appreciate transparency and control,” said Alma Whitten, a Google privacy official. “If we fail to offer clear, usable privacy controls and strong security, our users will simply leave.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net.
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