For Immediate Release Date: March 15, 2000

Contact: Christopher Battle 202-226-8063 Chris.Battle@mail.house.gov

Reps. Asa Hutchinson, Jim Moran Introduce Privacy Protection Commission
Bipartisan Panel Unique In Its Comprehensive, Coordinated Approach to Protecting Privacy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressmen Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) and Jim Moran (D-VA) today introduced legislation to create a bipartisan Privacy Protection Commission.

The bipartisan 17-member, federally appointed commission would be unique in Congress because of its comprehensive approach to dealing with the growing concern Americans have regarding the protection of their personal privacy — whether that be online privacy, identity theft, or the protection of health, medical, financial and governmental records.

Currently, there are some bills that deal with privacy concerns on more narrow fronts, but only the Hutchinson-Moran Commission would seek to address the concerns from a coordinated, comprehensive approach.

"Americans have pointed to a loss of their personal privacy as one of their gravest concerns in the coming years. They are alarmed at the accessibility of their medical records, they are worried how their financial information is being used; and they want to know that they can get on the Internet without strangers downloading personal information about them – and in today’s information society, all of these issues are interwoven," Hutchinson said. "The purpose of this commission is to find solutions that will aggressively protect individuals privacy without enacting narrow-focused helter-skelter laws that could result in unintended harmful consequences. There are some good privacy laws out there, and this commission could help ensure that there is a coordinated approach to dealing with privacy concerns in America."

"The Internet has flourished in large part because of the absence of undue government regulations and oversight," added Moran. "This is why it is vital that any legislation or regulation with respect to privacy only occur after a thoughtful, deliberate and balanced assessment of the threats we face now, and what we need to do better— if anything. The Commission proposed in this bill will achieve such a balanced approach. It will assure that we summon forth the best minds in the United States to deal with this extremely complex issue."

While industries have attempted some self-regulation, there are no uniform standards ensuring individuals’ privacy protections. The Hutchinson-Moran Commission would establishment an 18-month commission to investigate the problem of protecting personal privacy in a broad-based fashion, across the industry spectrum. The commission is then required to recommend whether additional legislation is necessary, what specific proposals would be effective, and proposals for non-governmental privacy protection efforts as well

The reasons why this commission is needed:

• There have been no commissions that have investigated the privacy issue in a comprehensive fashion since the advent of the Information Revolution and the pervasive impact of the Internet on American society.

• The are inadequate protections with regard to medical records and many consumers are concerned about the possibility of a health identification number.

• With new changes in the financial laws, there must be a review of the fire walls and protections between the health care, insurance, and financial industries.

• The use of Social Security number as personal identification numbers beyond that which was originally intended.

• The shift from an industry-focused economy to an information-focused economy calls for a reassessment of the most effective way to balance personal privacy and information use.

   

STRUCTURE OF THE COMMISSION

 

The commission would consist of 17 members, appointed in a bipartisan fashion:

• four appointed by the President
• four appointed by the majority leader of the Senate
• two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate
• four appointed by the Speaker of the House
• two appointed by the minority leader of the House
• one Chairman appointed jointly by the President, Majority Leader of the Senate and Speaker of the House.

 

The Commission would be tasked with:

• studying the current laws relating to the protection of individual privacy and existing efforts being undertaken to address this issue;

• conducting field hearings around the country to receive comments from the public, the business leaders and the community;

• identifying the potential threats posed to individual privacy in the cyberage and submitting a report to Congress on its findings, including any legislative recommendations for the reform or augmentation of current laws and regulations.

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