Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Unveiled in the US

At the recent Cloud Summit in Canberra the issue of consumer data privacy and empowerment, data transfers and the flow of information across borders were hot topics. Ultimately without consumer trust in the operation of cloud based services and the Internet overall, and the operation of a global service delivery system the opportunities promised by ubiquitous broadband and global commerce will not be fulfilled.

Yesterday in the US, President Obama unveiled a “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” as part of a comprehensive blueprint to protect the individual privacy rights of US citizens and to give users more control over how their information is handled by government and commercial interests.

Microsoft has long endorsed the adoption of comprehensive privacy legislation at the Federal level in the USA and created privacy tools, like Tracking Protection in Internet Explorer, to help individuals keep their personal information private when browsing across the Web. Not all technology companies have adopted or supported these practices.

Microsoft’s commitment to the program outlined by the White House is encapsulated in a posting by Microsoft’s Vice President for US Government Affairs, Fred Humphries, on the company’s policy blog “Microsoft on the Issues”.