If you would like further information on this issue or any trade regulation issues, please do not hesitate to contact one of the attorneys listed below, or the Mintz Levin attorney who ordinarily handles your legal affairs. This advisory is a publication of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., intended for general information purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice. For legal issues that arise, the reader should consult with legal counsel. Companies maintaining Internet web sites should be aware of the unique and dynamic legal issues presented by these sites.
Privacy is one of the most active and sensitive areas online.
While this is the first online privacy law to have been enacted, it almost certainly will not be the last. Industry regulators, most notably the FTC, argue that privacy for all individuals is vital to the future of online communications, and call for Congress to fill the void left by ineffective industry self-regulation. Companies can, and should, look to established privacy principles as a model for instituting proactive and effective policies for their own operations. BBBOnLine, a subsidiary of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, has begun accepting applications for its new online privacy seal program scheduled to be launched in March. In the Online Environment Is a Key Issue for Legislators and Regulators Privacy in the online environment will continue to be an important issue for legislators and regulators in 1999.