Data Brokers and the Federal Government: A New Front in the Battle for Privacy Opens | Recommendations

Recommendations for the Office of Management and Budget:

OMB should establish privacy standards that are at least a good as those in and recommended for the Do Not Pay Initiative to cover all government purchases of commercial databases with personal information. OMB should consider accomplishing an expansion by establishing a task force that includes representatives of consumer and privacy groups.

Data Brokers and the Federal Government: A New Front in the Battle for Privacy Opens | Conclusion

OMB deserves much praise for this novel privacy initiative, but it has more work to do. The evaluation of the first private sector database in the Do Not Pay Initiative needs to be accomplished in the open with full participation by all interested parties. The OMB memo provides for that. We need to see how well that process works.

Data Brokers and the Federal Government: A New Front in the Battle for Privacy Opens | Discussion and Analysis of the OMB Do Not Pay Guidance

The best starting point for understanding the OMB Do Not Pay memo is with the legal framework behind the Do Not Pay Initiative. The Initiative derives from a combination of little-noticed executive orders and updates to existing laws.

In 2009, Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments, [29] directed agencies to identify “ways in which information sharing may improve eligibility verification and pre-payment scrutiny.” This was the start of the current Do Not Pay Initiative.

News Release: WPF Publishes New Report on Government Use of Commercial Data Brokers

Today the World Privacy Forum published a report discussing the US federal government’s use of commercial data brokers, the implications for that usage, and what needs to be done to address privacy problems. The report argues that the government must bring itself fully to heel in the area of privacy, explaining that when government outsources its data needs to commercial data brokers, it needs to also attach the privacy standards it would have been held to if it had collected the data itself. Outsourcing can no longer be an excuse for evading privacy obligations.

Data Brokers and the Federal Government: A New Front in the Battle for Privacy Opens | Executive Summary

  You are reading the Executive Summary of Data Brokers and the Federal Government: A New Front in the Battle for Privacy Opens   Report Links: Report Home & Executive Summary Download the full report (PDF) Jump to other sections of the report: Executive Summary | I. Introduction | II. Discussion | III. Recommendations | IV. Conclusion | Appendices     Executive Summary The US federal government