CONSUMER GROUPS CALL FOR GREATER ITV PRIVACY PROTECTIONS
Warning that planned interactive TV (ITV) systems threaten to intrude deeply upon consumers’ privacy, several public interest groups called Tues. for greater federal and state regulation of ITV industry as well as more vigorous self-policing by ITV companies themselves. In new report issued by Center for Digital Democracy, groups argued that ITV companies were working to build huge “new data collection infrastructure” that would gather detailed personal information about consumers without their knowledge and with few privacy safeguards. “The model that these companies are following combines the worst aspects of the Internet and mass media as the new systems are being designed to track not only every activity of users as they surf the net, but also the programs and commercials they watch as well,” report said. “We believe that ITV data collection practices represent a new threat to personal privacy in America.”
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In conference call with reporters, consumer group leaders and privacy advocates also contended that ITV companies -- which include such large “T-commerce” players as A.C. Nielsen, AT&T, Cisco, Gemstar-TV Guide International, Liberty Media, Microsoft, News Corp. and Scientific-Atlanta -- were skirting existing laws and regulations to create such new personal information data bases. They charged that such industry groups as NCTA also were trying to weaken cable privacy laws to bring them “in line with the less stringent restrictions placed on general ISPs.” “Basically, there’s a total disregard” of laws and regulations by these companies, said David Banisar, deputy dir., Privacy International.
Advocates urged lawmakers and regulators not to let ITV develop along same lines as Internet, which continues to stir consumer privacy concerns. They said failure to act now would cause same privacy problems still faced by Web after more than 6 years of rapid growth. “I think there needs to be this kind of national debate about whether or not we want this technology to be intrusive from the beginning,” said Jeff Chester, exec. dir., Center for Digital Democracy. “[ITV] has raised privacy concerns from the very start.”
Specifically, advocates called on FTC and FCC to probe alleged violations of 1984 Cable Communications Policy Act, main federal statute that applies to ITV players. They also urged Congress to hold hearings and investigations on ITV industry practices. Chester said they already had spoken to FTC staff and planned to meet with Chmn. Timothy Muris in “the next few weeks.” He said advocates had also spoken to Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), ranking Democrat on House Telecom Subcommittee, and hoped to soon meet with staff of Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Hollings (D- S.C.).
Groups also want Congress to update and extend Cable Communications Policy Act so that it covers all interactive media, not just cable, amended to mandate oversight by FTC and FCC, allow agency enforcement of Act, overrule court decisions that limit class action suits and boost damages that can be levied. “The law on cable privacy is quite good as far as it applies,” Banisar said. But, noting that it now was up to individual consumers to file lawsuits, he said that “the main flaw of the Act is with the enforcement provisions.”
Besides those steps on federal level, consumer and privacy advocates urged states to enact their own ITV consumer protection safeguards and ITV companies to “support meaningful privacy protection” and start new self-policing efforts. They also want digital cable set-top box and other consumer electronics manufacturers to build privacy protection into their new devices.
NCTA spokesman dismissed report as nothing new and said there was little actual evidence to support groups’ claims. “This report minimizes the fact that cable operators already operate under some of the strictest government privacy protections of any industry,” he said. “Cable’s experience with privacy protection heightens its sensitivity to privacy issues involving new interactive services.”