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Klobuchar Calls for Greater Privacy Protections for Online Consumers

Questions representatives from Google, Facebook, Apple, & AT&T; at Commerce Committee Hearing

July 2, 2010

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar today urged companies that collect personally identifiable information from online users to better protect the privacy of those individuals. At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Klobuchar questioned representatives from some of the most popular social networking, e-mail, and search engine sites on their protocols for collecting, analyzing, and using information on consumers’ online activities.

“The collection of personal information raises numerous privacy questions to which consumers deserve clear and complete answers,” Klobuchar said. “Privacy is a founding American principle. To maintain trust with the public, popular online sites need to be clear about how they plan to protect the privacy of individuals whose data gets collected and stored.”

Online consumers often voluntarily provide personal data for registration or subscription purposes, to purchase merchandise, to sign up for social networking sites, or to set up free e-mail accounts. Individuals are often unaware what information is collected, how it is being used, and to whom it is disseminated.

Senators questioned the chief privacy engineer for Google, Alma Whitten; the vice president of software technology for Apple, Bud Tribble; the senior vice president of public policy and chief privacy officer for AT&T, Dorothy Atwood; and the chief technology officer for Facebook, Bret Taylor. The hearing also featured testimony from the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski.

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