Colleagues,
Larry Sabbath, NCISS’s legislative advocate, attended the last
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) privacy roundtable in Washington,
DC this week. The Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer
Protection, David Vladeck, said that the information gathered at
the roundtables will form the basis for possible further action
by the Commission. He acknowledged that the issue is complex and
it may take a while for the Commission to issue recommendations
after they review the information provided at the three
conferences.
Larry reported that although the focus of the FTC appears to be
centered on the privacy risks of new technologies, including
cloud computing, behavioral advertising, computer tracking and
the use of social networks, many of the concepts considered at
the roundtables could have a severe impact on the ability of
investigators to obtain information.
Director Vladeck and several panelists discussed the great
difficulty in distinguishing between personally identifiable
information (PII) and any other information that applies to an
individual. The risk is that broader categories of information
will be restricted. Others spoke of the need to restrict the
ability to obtain “location information”. However, that
discussion was in the context of concern over tracking on
individuals using broadband connections on computers or even a
cellular phone. But any restriction on obtaining location
information could prove problematic.
Several panelists argued that solely restricting the use of data
that can cause harm is insufficient for protecting privacy.
Chris Hoofnagle, now at the University of the California
Berkeley School of Law, said that some data should not be
permitted to be collected because it could later be used for
purposes other than for the initial reason it was collected.
Prior to this week’s roundtable, NCISS submitted comments to the
FTC and attended both Washington, DC workshops. The NCISS
Legislative Committee will continue to work to protect the
interests of the investigative and security profession and our
clients.
The webcast of the roundtable may be accessed at this link
http://htc-01.media.globix.net/COMP008760MOD1/ftc_web/FTCindex.html#Mar17_10
.
Your Voice in the Nation's Capital,
Jimmie Mesis
NCISS Legislative Chairman
NCISS
7501 Sparrows Point Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21219-1927
(800) 445-8408 . Fax: (410) 388-9746
Email: jim@nciss.org
(Permission granted to repost to other email lists and PI
association newsletters)
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