Produced by the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Published by The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave. Creating such a commission would be an important first step for Congress in addressing these issues. Beyond this step, however, Congress should exercise caution in responding to concerns about online access to personal information. Current self-regulatory privacy policies developed and implemented by business and industry are working, and the commission would provide a foundation for the objective examination of other privacy issues. It might well also constrain the zeal of those in the regulatory community who want to regulate online activities now before the facts are in.
Privacy issues are multi-dimensional and differ greatly by industry sector and complexity.
Congress should not rush to address one area of the privacy debate in a way that could have unintended effects on other areas of the Internet economy. Congress and the Administration should recognize that the scope of a privacy commission's work will be central to its findings and that the fluid Internet environment could make some of its recommendations immediately obsolete. Thus, while creating the Hutchinson privacy commission would be a step in the right direction, strengthening a few provisions in H.R. 4049 would provide commission members with the opportunity to develop recommendations that are timely, comprehensive, and inclusive, and enable them to avoid the pitfalls previous commissions encountered. Past congressionally established commissions often included an academic with expertise in a particular subject. The proposed commission would not.