FTC Approves Privacy Plan . U.K. Passes E-Mail Snooping Bill Into Law . A surveillance bill granting the U.K. government sweeping powers to access e-mail and other encrypted Internet communications passed its final vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday and is set to become law on Oct. 5. Commission adopts decisions recognising adequacy of regimes in US, Switzerland and Hungary . At the same time, the Commission has adopted similar Decisions concerning Switzerland and Hungary.
Lawyers See a Threat .
New York Times - free registration required F.T.C. Endorses Agreement With Internet Advertisers for Online Privacy . Moving to protect Americans' online privacy, the government on Thursday approved a plan by Internet advertisers to regulate the secret gathering of information used to profile Web customers. The plan, which will take effect immediately, will require Web advertising companies to notify consumers of their Internet profiling activities and give customers the chance to choose whether information about their Web surfing can be gathered anonymously. In what both sides hailed as a big step in online privacy protection, the government reached agreement yesterday with a group of Internet advertisers on how they will glean information from Web surfers and what they will do with it. From now on, Web surfers will be told explicitly of advertisers' attempts to profile potential consumers and will be given the option of choosing not to participate.