Obama Urged To Focus On Government Data Use
President-elect Barack Obama's administration should craft sound policies on government use of data -- especially in the national security context, cybersecurity expert Fred Cate told reporters at a Friday briefing sponsored by Hunton & Williams' Centre for Information Policy Leadership. "Nobody has said the current state of law is good -- even people who are advocates for less privacy protection in this area want clearer laws," said Cate, who is also director of Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research. Joining Cate were CIPL principals Marty Abrams, Paula Bruening, Lisa Sotto and Orson Swindle as well as Harriet Pearson, IBM's chief privacy officer.
Nearly all the components of Obama's ambitious "change agenda," which includes reforms to the financial services sector, healthcare system and the economy, relate to the collection, use and processing of information, Abrams said. Privacy and information security are "at the top of the heap" and will be part of the regulatory, policy and legislative agenda going forward, he said. Days before the election, the center took the pulse of its members -- 41 companies from the financial services, retail, tech, and pharmaceutical industries -- about possible government privacy policy activities.
Here's what they had to say:
▪ 90.9 percent predicted an Obama administration would reexamine issues of privacy and information security; 51.5 percent believed a McCain presidency would do the same.
▪ 72.7 percent expected Congress to enact major privacy legislation.
▪ 65.6 percent thought Congress would legislate in the area of data breach; 59.4 believed members would act on behavioral advertising; and 50 percent thought Congress would propose minimum requirements for security.
▪ 64.5 percent believed the U.S. approach to protecting personal information is ineffective at promoting consumer trust.
▪ 63.3 percent believed "better enforcement and oversight of existing laws and regulations" is needed to enhance security of personal information.
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Presidential Transition
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