Senator Kerry’s Senior Advisor Provides Key Insight into Forthcoming Privacy Bill

On December 10, 2010, Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Daniel Sepulveda, briefed the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP (the “Centre”) members on Senator Kerry’s forthcoming privacy legislation.  The bill, which will be introduced next Congress, aims to establish a regulatory framework for the comprehensive protection of individuals’ personal data that authorizes rulemakings by the Federal Trade Commission.

Sepulveda highlighted the following key concepts of Kerry’s privacy legislation:

• The bill requires that covered entities be accountable for their information collection practices and respect the covenants they make with individuals regarding these practices. The accountability provision echoes Kerry’s December 1 statement that “proper stewardship of information is as important as how it is collected.”

Read more on the Privacy and Information Security Law Blog.

The bill grants the FTC rulemaking authority with respect to notice requirements and individual participation mechanisms (i.e., opt-in and opt-out consents).