US moves to dispel 'myths' over privacy issues

A top US government official has moved to dispel "misconceptions" about America's approach to privacy issues.

Speaking to theParliament.com, Mary Callahan said it is "wrong and incorrect" to suggest that the US system is not "robust".

Callahan, the chief privacy office of the department of Homeland Security, said, "I think it is time a few misconceptions over this issue were dispelled.

"For a start, to suggest that our system is not as robust as that in the EU on privacy laws is simply incorrect.

"The US system is very sophisticated and forward leaning in providing information. The Freedom of Information Act, passed way back in 1966, is a prime example of this.

"Europe and the US are actually very compatible and similar, but there are differences. Europe has an independent data protection commissioner and some argue that this is the only effective means of dealing with such issues.

"However, I disagree because the system in the US is, I believe, equally effective."

Callahan, who heads up a 30-strong team and is one of Barrack Obama's newest political appointees, was speaking during her visit to Brussels on Thursday.

Her visit included meetings with officials from the commission as well as trips to Berlin and Paris.

Meanwhile, ICOMP, an industry initiative for organisations and businesses involved in internet commerce, has called on European and national competition authorities to consider privacy issues when applying antitrust law.

It was responding to concerns from consumers, businesses and regulators that personal data collected online, often without the users’ knowledge or consent is being used by some companies to gain an unfair competitive advantage. 
 
Speaking at a one-day conference in Brussels on Monday, ICOMP director Auke Haagsma said: “Regulators should help create a level playing field on which companies can compete to continuously improve their privacy practices.

"Competition rules can and should be applied to companies that, by reducing European citizens’ right to privacy, abuse their dominant position.”
 
Delivering the keynote address, professor Peter Swire of Ohio State University, a former privacy counsel in president Bill Clinton’s administration, said, “Where mergers or dominant firm behaviour create significant effects on customers, including in their use of customer data, then those effects should be considered under antitrust law.”

 

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