US Urges Internet Based Companies Develop Privacy Rules
The Commerce Department in the US has issued a report urging internet based companies, such as Google and Facebook, to work with consumer groups in an effort to develop new pribvacy policies for web users.
If they don’t the companies may end up facing regulations. The move has been welcomed by the big internet industries, however consumer-protection advocates believe that the policy would leave the companies with too much of a role in policing themselves.
The call was for those in the web industry to write voluntary codes of conduct to protect the privacy of web users. These codes would then be used by the Federal Trade Commission. However many believe that it is up to the department to develop rules independently, to ensure complete honesty and integrity in any policy put into place.
