[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 157 (Monday, August 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49545-49546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20596]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket Number 000801222-0222-01]

RIN 0660-XX10


Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) will host a public workshop to examine technological tools and 
developments that can enhance consumer privacy online. In partnership 
with the Internet Education Foundation, NTIA will also host a 
Technology Fair to demonstrate the use and capabilities of a broad 
spectrum of online privacy technologies.
    Information regarding the Online Privacy Technologies Workshop and

[[Page 49546]]

Technology Fair will be available on NTIA's homepage at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/privacy/>.

DATES: The workshop and technology fair will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on 
September 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The workshop and technology fair will be located at the U.S. 
Department of Commerce Main Auditorium and Lobby, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, 20230 (entrance on 14th Street between 
Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the 
workshop, contact either Judy Kilpatrick at NTIA, Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 4701, Washington, DC 
20230, telephone (202) 482-1866, facsimile (202) 482-0023, or e-mail 
[email protected]>; or Wendy Lader at NTIA, Department of Commerce, 
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 4725, Washington, DC 20230, phone 
(202) 482-1880, facsimile (202) 482-8058, or e-mail 
[email protected]>.
    For further information about the technology fair, contact Tim 
Lordan at Internet Education Foundation, 1634 I Street, NW, Suite 1107, 
Washington, DC 20006, phone (202) 638-4370, or e-mail [email protected]>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    With the rapid increase in online usage and transactions, the 
protection of online consumer privacy has become a critical issue. The 
Administration has urged industry to comply with fair information 
practice principles in connection with any collection, use, or 
dissemination of personal information. These principles involve the 
provision of notice, choice, access, security, and enforcement by any 
web site that collects personal information. Consistent with A 
Framework for Global Electronic Commerce and these principles, the 
Administration has strongly advocated development and adoption of 
privacy policies and self-regulatory codes of conduct developed by the 
private-sector to protect consumer privacy. This private-sector led 
approach takes advantage of the unique ability of the private sector to 
respond quickly to the changing privacy concerns and needs of consumers 
in a period of rapid technological change and growth in electronic 
commerce. On a global basis, private sector led, self-regulatory 
approaches may also provide a more certain enforcement mechanism than 
legislation in the absence of identical national laws.
    These efforts, in conjunction with limited sector-specific 
legislation, have helped protect the privacy of online users. There is 
now debate, however, about whether these steps go far enough. The 
Federal Trade Commission, in its May 2000 report on Fair Information 
Practices in the Electronic Marketplace, determined that broad, non-
sector specific privacy legislation, along with continuing self-
regulatory programs, are now necessary to ensure adequate protection of 
consumer privacy online. The Administration has indicated that 
legislation may well be appropriate in the next Congress if the private 
sector is unable to increase significantly the number of websites that 
observe good privacy practices. A number of bills have been introduced 
in Congress that would regulate how privacy should be protected online. 
Whether or not such legislation is enacted, technology tools will play 
a key role in how Internet users protect their personal information. 
The Administration has encouraged the development of new technologies 
that will help online consumers protect their personal information. A 
wide variety of privacy enhancing technologies are just now becoming 
available to consumers, or are still in development.
    Emerging privacy enhancing technologies reflect a variety of 
approaches to data protection. Some technologies act as 
``infomediaries'' by helping users manage their online identities, 
allowing users to keep personally identifying information in personal 
data stores for release when authorization is given. Other technologies 
act as anonymity tools that prevent online communications from being 
linked back to the user. Still other technology tools are designed to 
work with the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P), a standard being 
developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that enables browsers 
to automatically read a website's privacy policy and, based upon an 
individual user's set preferences, allow or disallow access to their 
personal information.
    Despite activity in this area, many of these tools are not yet 
widely known or understood. This workshop and technology fair is 
intended to provide a forum to expand public awareness of these tools 
and to explain how they can help protect online privacy, whether in a 
regulated or a self-regulatory environment.

Workshop Agenda

    The workshop is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 
p.m. The tentative schedule for the workshop is as follows:
    The first panel will provide an overview and demonstration of the 
various kinds of consumer-oriented privacy technologies available or 
being developed in the marketplace. The second panel will offer a 
detailed examination and analysis of the Platform for Privacy 
Preferences (P3P) standard being developed by the World Wide Web 
Consortium (WC3). The third panel will explore how privacy technologies 
introduced during the first two panels address the fair information 
practice principles of notice, choice, access, security and 
enforcement.
    Following a lunch break, the workshop's fourth panel will examine 
the role that privacy enhancing technologies play in the current self-
regulatory environment for online privacy, as well as the role they may 
play in a more regulatory scheme, whether domestic or international in 
nature. This panel will also examine the development of privacy 
technology tools that are intended to enhance children's privacy 
online. This schedule is subject to change prior to the workshop. 
Current information on the workshop's agenda will be available on 
NTIA's homepage at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/privacy/>.
    The Technology Fair will take place throughout the day and allow 
participants and attendees to view and gain hands-on experience with 
available or developing technologies that serve to protect consumer 
privacy online. Current information on the technology fair will be 
available on the Internet Education Foundation's homepage at http://www.neted.org>.
    Public Participation and Access: The Online Privacy Technologies 
Workshop and Technology Fair is open to the public, free-of-charge, on 
a first-come, first-served basis and is physically accessible to people 
with disabilities. To facilitate entry into the Department of Commerce 
building, please have a photo identification available and/or a U.S. 
Government building pass, if applicable. Any member of the public 
wishing to attend and requiring special services, such as sign language 
interpretation or other ancillary aids, should contact Wendy Lader at 
least five (5) days prior to the Workshop at telephone (202) 482-1880 
or e-mail [email protected]>.

Kathy Smith,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 00-20596 Filed 8-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-69-P