US Gov't Panel Calls for New Privacy Rules
The U.S. government needs to rewrite the rules it has been using for 35 years to govern its use of personal data by focusing on new technologies for storing and retrieving data, a government advisory board recommended.
Mary Ellen Challahan, chief privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, praised the ISPAB report, saying a dialog on government privacy policies is needed. Lawmakers are looking to rewrite the Privacy Act soon, added Evan Cash, a staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
CDT took the first step toward a new privacy law by writing a proposed law, which was scheduled to be posted on a wiki at the new eprivacyact.org site Wednesday. The wiki will allow site visitors to make their own recommendations for a privacy law.
Swire also praised ISPAB's work, but suggested that lawmakers would ask a lot of questions about the need for a new law.
By including new technologies in SORNs, the federal government may have to issue "one million systems of records notices over the next five years," Swire said, anticipating critics' questions. "Is that a good use of government resources?"
Still, public notice on the use of personal data need to be rewritten, said Swire, now a law professor at Ohio State University.
Center for Democracy and Technology
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