White House Unveils 'Privacy Bill of Rghts' Initiative

From The Hill:

The White House announced a set of principles for protecting consumers’ privacy online Thursday and promised to work with Congress to enact them into law.

The guidelines, dubbed a “Privacy Bill of Rights,” spell out how Web companies should handle user information.

The White House declared that consumers have a right to control what data organizations collect from them and how they use it. Companies’ privacy policies should be easy to understand and companies must protect user data from hacking and leaks, the principles state.

“American consumers can’t wait any longer for clear rules of the road that ensure their personal information is safe online,” President Obama said in a statement.

See Also: Fact Sheet: Plan to Protect Privacy in the Internet Age by Adopting a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights (via The White House)

See Also: Official News Release (via The White House)

See Also: White House unveils online privacy initiative; advertisers to help (via Consumer Reports)

ON A RELATED NOTE: California’s Attorney General, “Secures Global Agreement to Strengthen Privacy Protections for Users of Mobile Applications”