05/26/99 Committee on the Judiciary

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee on the Judiciary

Henry J. Hyde, Chairman www.house.gov/judiciary

News Advisory

For immediate release - May 26, 1999

Contact: Sam Stratman/Michael Connolly - (202) 225-2492

Judiciary Subcommittee to Review

Implications of Internet Privacy Policies

What: Oversight Hearing on "Electronic Communication Privacy Policy Disclosure"

Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property

When: Thursday, May 27^th at 10:00 a.m.

Where: 2141 Rayburn House Office Building

Recent studies show that upwards of 93 percent of commercial Web pages (Amazon.com, eBay.com, etc.) collect from their visitors at least one type of personal information - name, age, or e-mail address for example. But not all of those sites post the company's privacy policy, and in some cases, that personal information is being passed along or even sold without the consumer's knowledge.

Right now, in the New Electronic Economy...

Thousands of businesses and other groups on the Web collect personal information from their Internet visitors and customers.

Critics charge that many of those businesses do not inform prospective customers of efforts to collect personal information and sell or otherwise use it for gain.

The European Union has established comprehensive provisions protecting consumers' privacy rights, requiring strict adherence by companies who collect this information to notification, access, and use rules.

These Hearings will begin to Answer the Questions...

How much personal information is collected over the Internet, and for purposes is the information used?

Are the Internet's industry efforts to police itself adequate or is a government-enforced standard necessary? And what action should be taken in the United States to ensure the new European standards do not disrupt transatlantic commerce?

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