Statement of the World Privacy Forum Regarding U.S. Department of Commerce NTIA Short Form Notice Code of Conduct to Promote Transparency in Mobile Apps July 25, 2013 -- Washington, D.C. The World Priavcy Forum, after a year of hard work as a leading part of the core drafting group in ...
NTIA -- The US Department of Commerce announced that the next NTIA Multistakeholder meeting will be July 25 in Washington, D.C. The final list of outstanding issues for stakeholders is here . Meeting information: Meeting 16 -- July 25, 2013, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET (Location: American Institute of Architects, ...
Mobile Privacy -- The World Privacy Forum attended the NTIA Multistakeholder meeting as one of the core drafters of the code of conduct being considered by the NTIA Multistakeholder process. WPF and the other drafters are accepting comments from all stakeholders in preparation of the next iteration of the draft.
NTIA Mobile privacy -- WPF participated in the January 17th meeting of the NTIA Multistakeholder Process. The jointly crafted code WPF, ACLU, Mobile App Alliance, and Consumer Action created was again discussed and edited. A growing consensus is moving toward the joint code. The next meeting is January 31, 2013.
July 11, 2012 San Diego, California -- Today the World Privacy Forum published a comment essay by executive director Pam Dixon urging all privacy stakeholders to focus on the consumer during the Commerce Multistakeholder privacy process, set to get underway tomorrow. "We must put the consumer first and focus on what is important," said Pam Dixon.
Mobile privacy -- Mobile app privacy is the topic of the multistakeholder process to be undertaken this week under the direction of the US Department of Commerce. Over the weekend, a NYT article revealed that mobile carriers received more than 1.3 million requests by law enforcement for mobile data, including requests for text messages. This article is a focusing event. It is a reminder that in mobile privacy we need to put the consumer first, focus on what is important, and apply responsibility for privacy and transparency throughout the hierarchy of mobile players, from carriers to platforms to app stores to publishers to developers. It is unclear yet what segments of the hierarchy require what amounts of the burden, but what is clear is that carriers will certainly need to do a lot. It is also clear that the idea of just an icon on a screen to communicate the idea of mobile privacy to consumers is a band-aid approach at best when faced with the truth of where some of the real risks are for consumers.
WPF filed two sets of comments with the US Department of Commerce regarding the MultiStakeholder Process and the privacy topics to be taken up. The first set of comments were WPF's formal filing of the joint Civil Society MultiStakeholder Principles on behalf of WPF and the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers' Union, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, National Consumers' League, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and US PIRG. The second set of comments were WPF's own comments to the Department. WPF urged the Department to employ a fair process, choose focused topics, and to apply the full range of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to each topic.
WPF comments on Multi-Stakeholder Process -- WPF filed two sets of comments with the US Department of Commerce regarding the MultiStakeholder Process and the privacy topics to be taken up. The first set of comments were WPF's formal filing of the joint Civil Society MultiStakeholder Principles on behalf of WPF and the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers' Union, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, National Consumers' League, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and US PIRG. The second set of comments were WPF's own comments to the Department. WPF urged the Department to employ a fair process, choose focused topics, and to apply the full range of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to each topic.
On Feb. 23, 2012, nine signatory organizations published a MultiStakeholder Principles designed to guide the NTIA MultiStakeholder Process, a self-regulatory process to develop voluntary codes of conduct with industry and civil society. The document states: "The US Department of Commerce is proposing a multi-stakeholder process for developing better applications of privacy principles. For the multi-stakeholder process to succeed, it must be representative of all stakeholders and must operate under procedures that are fair, transparent, and credible. We believe the following baseline principles will provide the multi-stakeholder process the legitimacy it needs to succeed."
MultiStakeholder Privacy Principles -- The World Privacy Forum has led an effort to craft a set of principles with the nation’s leading civil liberties, privacy, and consumer groups. Today, the groups are releasing a set of baseline Multi-Stakeholder Principles in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s plan for a multi-stakeholder process on privacy. (The U.S. Department of Commerce is undertaking a representative process for bringing together members of industry and civil society to form new privacy rules.) These leading groups believe that for the multi-stakeholder process to succeed, it must be representative of all stakeholders and must operate under procedures that are fair, transparent, and credible.
WPF filed two sets of comments with the US Department of Commerce regarding the MultiStakeholder Process and the privacy topics to be taken up. The first set of comments were WPF’s formal filing of the joint Civil Society MultiStakeholder Principles on behalf of WPF and the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers’ Union, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, National Consumers’ League, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and US PIRG. The second set of comments were WPF’s own comments to the Department. WPF urged the Department to employ a fair process, choose focused topics, and to apply the full range of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to each topic.
NTIA Multistakeholder Process -- The US Department of Commerce has announced that it is supporting privacy legislation and a "stakeholder process" to determine self regulatory rules for Internet privacy. WPF wrote about what a fair stakeholder process needs to include in our comments to the US Department of Commerce. We urge that at a minimum, the stakeholder process will include these items: 1) Consumer and business representation be equal in any multi-stakeholder process. 2) Approval of consumer representatives must be a necessary element in any formal decisions, just as the approval of business will be necessary. 3) Consumers must select their own representatives through a process yet to be determined, and consumer representatives may not be designated or limited by business or government. 4) Consumer organization that require financial assistance to participate in the multi- stakeholder process should receive support for travel and other expenses (but not for staff support). 5) Government agencies may participate in the process, but no agency may have a vote. 6) Participants in the process must chose their own rules and presiding officer. 7) Certifiers of accountability with codes of conduct should be not-for-profit organizations that are wholly independent of business, consumers, and government.
The World Privacy Forum filed comments on the US Department of Commerce Green Paper today and urged the department to adopt a fair stakeholder input process that included consumers in a robust and meaningful way. WPF outlined seven specific steps for the department to take to ensure a fair process.