Letter from Reps. Dick Armey (R-TX), Billy Tauzin (R-LA), and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
Re: online privacy.
Date: June 16, 2000.
Source: Rep. Dick Armey.

June 16, 2000

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

The Honorable Albert Gore
Old Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20501

Dear President Clinton and Vice President Gore:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently voted 3-2 to make a legislative recommendation to Congress regarding online privacy. Protecting personal privacy is obviously an important priority that deserves significant attention and thoughtful consideration.

The 3-2 recommendation by the FTC called for legislation requiring commercial Web sites that collect personal identifying information from or about consumers online to comply with what they call "four widely-accepted fair information practices." According to the FTC report, these requirements would include:

1. Notice - Web sites would be required to provide consumers clear and conspicuous notice of their information practices, including what information they collect, how they collect it (e.g., directly or through non-obvious means such as cookies), how they use it, how they provide Choice, Access, and Security to consumers, whether they disclose information collected to other entities, and whether other entities are collecting information through the site.
   
2. Choice - Web sites would be required to offer consumers choices as to how their personal identifying information is used beyond the use for which the information was provided (e.g., to consummate a transaction). Such choice would encompass both internal secondary uses (such as marketing back to consumers) and external secondary uses (such as disclosing data to other entities).
   
3. Access - Web sites would be required to offer consumers reasonable access to the information a Web site has collected about them, including a reasonable opportunity to review information and to correct inaccuracies or delete information.
   
4. Security - Web sites would be required to take reasonable steps to protect the security of the information they collect from consumers.

Congress will be carefully reviewing both the supporting and dissenting opinions of the Commissioners on this recommendation. As we do, it would be helpful to have some information about how the Federal government meets the criteria outlined by this recommendation. It would be hypocritical for the Federal government to mandate a standard on the private sector that it cannot itself meet.

As you know, the Federal government collects and stores far more personal information than the private sector. There is much more personal financial data stored on IRS databases than will ever be collected by Amazon.com - and I'm not sure that the federal government has as good a record at protecting personal privacy.

In fact, the IRS recently had to issue apologies to 1300 families for improperly disclosing personal financial information - offering checks of $1000 per family for the error. I'd be much more concerned about the IRS disclosing my personal financial information that about the GAP.com knowing how many pairs of jeans I've bought this year.

Therefore, I would appreciate hearing from you both on the following questions:

• What percentage of Web sites maintained by federal departments and agencies currently meet the privacy criteria outlined by the FTC's legislative recommendation?
  
• Do you support having those criteria apply to the federal government?
  
• Will you commit to having the Federal government lead by example by meeting (or even exceeding) these standards before advocating their imposition on commercial sites?

As we promised in the Contract with America, this Congress is committed to making the federal government live under the same laws it imposes on everyone else.

As we consider this legislative recommendation from the FTC, it will be helpful to have a thorough understanding of how well the federal government currently complies with the standards it is asking us to impose on commercial Web sites.

Sincerely,

CC: The Honorable Robert Pitofsky, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
Commissioner Sheila Anthony
Commissioner Mozelle Thompson
Commissioner Tom Leary
Commissioner Orson Swindle