Privacy policies tighten up

By Maria Seminerio, eWEEK
08 February 2001 10:49 AM
Tags: online, privacy, healthcare, hipaa, comply, law, company, consumer

Data privacy laws



Will data privacy laws apply to you?
With the onset of new HIPAA data privacy regulations for health care companies, a law regulating financial services companies' collecting of customer data, dubbed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley bill, and other federal data privacy initiatives likely to be considered this year, consultants say executives should act now to determine whether their companies will have to change their privacy and data collection practices to comply. How should you determine whether such laws will apply to you? Here are a couple of starting points:

— Know what information you collect from consumers and how your company stores and uses it. If purchasing history is paired with names, addresses, credit card numbers, phone numbers and Social Security numbers, it's possible that your use of this data will be regulated soon, if it's not covered by existing law. At a minimum, assume you will be required to tell consumers what you're doing with their data and why.

— If your company provides a variety of services, you might have to comply with privacy laws that don't apply to your primary market. Under Gramm-Leach-Bliley, department stores that provide their own credit cards are considered financial services providers, and so they must comply. Read up on pending privacy legislation on the Library of Congress' Thomas Web site at thomas.loc.gov. If bills that were pending last year describe business models that sound like yours, get ready to reassess your privacy policies.

— If you're still not sure, get advice from a lawyer who's an expert on Internet privacy practices.

Source: eWeek reporting

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