DNS - Lawmakers Push for Bill to Regulate Personal Information Consumers Input Online and Off

When you fill out information for a service, including names, address, contact information and - even in some cases - your social security number, you expect that information to be private, protected by the company or person you are providing that to, correct? Well, at least I do.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who is curious about where this information goes either.

Yahoo News is claiming that Representatives Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, and Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, have released a draft bill that would require companies that collect personal information from customers to disclose how they collect and share that information.

"Our legislation confers privacy rights on individuals, informing them of the personal information that is collected and shared about them and giving them greater control over the collection, use and sharing of that information," said Boucher, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, in a statement.

Despite some arguing that the proposal would legalize current privacy violations online, the draft is pushing to regulate the flow of personal information collected online as well as off.

The bill would require companies collecting personal information to allow customers to opt out of the collection, and would require companies to get permission before sharing customers' personal information with third parties.

"Our goal is to encourage greater levels of electronic commerce by providing to Internet users the assurance that their experience online will be more secure," Boucher said.

The bill is being criticized for the potential damage it could do, not only to customers, but ultimately to companies and the trust their customers have with them.