[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E76]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE CONSUMER ONLINE PRIVACY AND DISCLOSURE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2001

  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, unprecedented number of American 
consumers are flocking to the Internet to transact business and tap the 
nearly limitless informational databases. The explosion in Internet 
usage, however, is not without problems. Unlike shopping in a mall or 
browsing through a library where individuals travel anonymously through 
the merchandise racks and library stacks, the Internet is becoming less 
and less anonymous. Direct marketing firms are now trying to identify 
individuals as they surf the web to isolate where they visit and what 
they are viewing.
  This new data collection practice is most often described as Internet 
profiling. Internet profiling describes the practice of joining a 
consumer's personal information with his or her Internet viewing 
habits. To develop this detailed profile a ``persistent cookie'' must 
be attached to a consumer's cookie as they move through a web site. A 
persistent cookie is a small text file copied for varying lengths of 
time to consumers' computers to track their movements while online.
  My legislation will prohibit Internet Service Providers (ISP) and web 
site operators from allowing third parties to attach these persistent 
cookies to a consumer's computer without his or her knowledge and 
consent. In addition, the legislation requires the Federal Trade 
Commission (FTC) to promulgate rules specifying that all operators of a 
Web site or online service provide a clear and conspicuous notice of 
their privacy policy in clear, non-legalistic terms. The bill also 
requires a Web site or online service to provide consumers with an 
option to prevent the use of their personal information for any 
activity other than the transaction. Finally, the privacy policy must 
clearly state how any collected information will be shared or 
transferred to an external company or third party.
  While my legislation gives consumers more information and control 
over how they use the Internet, I have also included a provision that 
will hold e-commerce companies to their privacy policies. With the 
insolvency of many dot-com companies, often the only tangible asset 
left to satisfy creditors is a consumers transaction and personal 
information.
  The global reach of the Internet is beneficial only so long as the 
information traveling through cyberspace remains private. Consumers 
will pull back from this burgeoning information and commerce tool if 
they believe it is being used to invade their privacy. While I 
understand that there are many differing approaches to the issues of 
Internet privacy, I believe this legislation addresses a critical 
component of the Internet privacy debate and I look forward to moving 
it in the 107th Congress.

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