Euro-Style Online Privacy Protection
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 5:48PMUpdate on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 1:00PM by CFM team
Privacy Rules Urged on Supercookies
September 27, 2011 –A bipartisan House privacy caucus has urged the Federal Trade Commission to look into the use of "supercookies" by websites such as Hulu.com and MSN.com.
Congressmen Ed Markey, (D-Mass) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), who co-chair the privacy caucus, told the FTC they believe supercookies, which recreate online user's profile information even after the user has deleted traditional cookies, may constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice. Barton said, "I think supercookies should be outlawed because their existence eats away at consumer choice and privacy." Concern about supercookies was fueled by findings from research conducted at Standard University and the University of California, Berkeley, and reported recently by the Wall Street Journal.
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Concern is growing over online privacy, but don't expect Congress to import Euro-style, comprehensive privacy regulation.A U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is examining Europe's comprehensive approach to privacy protection, but some legal experts doubt whether Euro-style privacy regulation could win support in the United States.