In the US, most large e-commerce web sites have adopted privacy policies, despite there still being no formal equivalent to European data protection laws requiring sites to state what personal data they collect and how they use it. Politicians in the US are now showing signs of general agreement that industry self-regulation is insufficient to protect consumers.
It was announced yesterday that Republican and Democrat members of Congress are to form a working group to aim for consensus on new laws.
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday testified before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection on the agency's efforts in protecting consumers' privacy, including surveys of sites to examine their information practices and privacy statements.