U.S. Lawmakers Prepare Online Privacy Rules

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United States lawmakers have spent a year preparing draft legislation for a law that would define and limit privacy for advertisers and Internet companies. The legislation will
govern methods of taking information from users online and using that information to target advertisements to them. On Tuesday, they will present the draft legislation.
The timing is good for such an announcement given the worry over, among other things, Facebook's recent changes that have caused fresh worry over privacy.
According to the Wall Street Journal, two of the representatives working on the bill, Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) are posting the bill on their websites Tuesday. The plan is to accept feedback from readers for two months, then revise and submit it.

 Elements of the draft include the following:

• Disclosure of what information is collected and how, how it is used and who it is shared with
• Opt-outs for consumers.
• Restrictions on collecting financial, medical, government ID information and that of children

Internet and advertising companies, meanwhile, argue that any such bill risks damaging the $23 billion online advertising market.

Curt Hopkins @'ReadWriteWeb'