Senate Commerce Slates Privacy Hearing

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold another online
privacy hearing, this one scheduled for June 28.

According to Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), this
hearing, a follow-up to one on May 9, will look closely at how the online
advertising industry plans to honor its pledge to not track online info of Web
browsers who elect that option using a self-regulatory website icon or browser
option.

The White House has urged self-regulation, but has also
backed legislation that would give the Federal Trade Commission more power over
industry players who do not play along with the do-not-track pledge.

"In our prior hearing on consumer privacy, both the Obama
Administration and the FTC commended recent industry efforts to provide
consumers with more privacy protections," said Rockefeller.  "However,
their reports also stated that industry can do more and that federal
legislation is necessary. 

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.