If it does not work out, we believe Congress should seriously consider legislation. Pitofsky's remarks to a House Commerce subcommittee are the strongest suggestion yet that the Clinton administration is willing to seek new federal privacy laws if companies cannot find ways to regulate themselves. Earlier Monday, an industry trade group racing to convince the government that new laws weren't needed said it would use electronic seals on Web sites to assure consumers. Deirdre Mulligan, a lawyer with the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology, lauded the industry's latest efforts but suggested it was too little, too late. The White House has warned businesses that sell products on the Internet to improve protecting the information they collect from customers, often using online questionnaires to gather data such as names, postal and e-mail addresses and personal preferences.
Some Web sites sell the information to third-party advertisers and others.
Privacy advocates want companies to tell consumers how personal information will be used, give them the choice to participate, make sure the information stays safe and let consumers review and correct data collected about them. If consumers have a dispute with a company and can't get it resolved, they have to have somewhere else to go. BBB General Counsel Steven Cole asked lawmakers for more time to make industry's solutions work. What is asked for is some realistic patience. The proposal by the alliance comes as Commerce Secretary William Daley was expected to report to President Clinton later this month on the industry's efforts to protect consumer privacy on the Internet.