To the Editor:
“The End of Privacy Began in the 1960s,” by Margaret O’Mara (Op-Ed, Dec. 6), points to several critical moments in the development of American privacy laws, but there is much in this history that needs clarifying if the next steps on privacy are smart ones.
Ms. O’Mara is correct that the proposal for a National Data Center and growing concern about the misuse of personal data by the government culminated in the Privacy Act of 1974. But a deal with the Ford White House stripped the final bill of private-sector coverage and a dedicated federal agency. The country has lived with the consequences.
Coverage in the private sector is uneven or exists not at all. The absence of a privacy agency is still a gaping hole in American law. The Europeans, building on the United States’ experience and facing similar challenges, managed to develop a privacy regime that is both more coherent and more effective.
Back then, Congress well understood the need to limit the collection of personal data. And Congress did not view privacy protection and the free flow of information as a trade-off. In the same year that Congress enacted the Privacy Act, it also strengthened the Freedom of Information Act.
There is still much that Congress can do to strengthen privacy protections for Americans. Enacting federal baseline legislation and establishing a data protection agency would be a good start.
Marc Rotenberg
Washington
The writer is president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, teaches at Georgetown Law and frequently testifies before Congress on privacy issues.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | America Needs a Privacy Law
Opinion | America Needs a Privacy Law
To the Editor:
“The End of Privacy Began in the 1960s,” by Margaret O’Mara (Op-Ed, Dec. 6), points to several critical moments in the development of American privacy laws, but there is much in this history that needs clarifying if the next steps on privacy are smart ones.
Ms. O’Mara is correct that the proposal for a National Data Center and growing concern about the misuse of personal data by the government culminated in the Privacy Act of 1974. But a deal with the Ford White House stripped the final bill of private-sector coverage and a dedicated federal agency. The country has lived with the consequences.
Coverage in the private sector is uneven or exists not at all. The absence of a privacy agency is still a gaping hole in American law. The Europeans, building on the United States’ experience and facing similar challenges, managed to develop a privacy regime that is both more coherent and more effective.
Back then, Congress well understood the need to limit the collection of personal data. And Congress did not view privacy protection and the free flow of information as a trade-off. In the same year that Congress enacted the Privacy Act, it also strengthened the Freedom of Information Act.
There is still much that Congress can do to strengthen privacy protections for Americans. Enacting federal baseline legislation and establishing a data protection agency would be a good start.
Marc Rotenberg
Washington
The writer is president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, teaches at Georgetown Law and frequently testifies before Congress on privacy issues.
Source: Read Full Article