-- CDT's Analysis of Gore's Press Release

   
                  	    THE WHITE HOUSE



                     Office of the Vice President

________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                      July 31, 1998







              VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES NEW STEPS TOWARD 

                       AN ELECTRONIC BILL OF RIGHTS



           New Efforts Will Protect Americans' in Four Key Areas





 Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore announced new steps toward an

Electronic Bill of Rights, an effort to protect one of the oldest and

most basic American values -- privacy -- with the rise of new

technology.



 "We need an electronic bill of rights for this electronic age," Vice

President Gore said in an event in the Roosevelt Room at the White

House.  "You should have the right to choose whether your personal

information is disclosed; you should have the right to know how, when,

and how much of that information is being used; and you should have the

right to see it yourself, to know if it's accurate."

   

 Following a major address at New York University this May, the Vice

President renewed the call for an Electronic Bill of Rights by asking

everyone to do their part to protect individual privacy -- relying on

private sector leadership where possible, on legislation when necessary,

on responsible government handling of personal information, and on an

informed public.



 The Vice President announced new action in four key areas:  



Protecting sensitive personal information.  Taking new executive action

and calling for tough new legislation to protect personal information

such as medical and financial records -- and ensuring that existing

privacy laws are strong enough to protect privacy as technology grows

and changes;



Stopping identity theft.  Calling for strong new penalties for so-called

"identity theft";



Protecting children's privacy on-line.  Calling for strong new measures

to protect children's privacy on-line -- by ensuring that data is not

collected from children without their parents' consent; and



Urging voluntary private sector action to protect privacy.  Challenging

the private sector to continue to take effective voluntary steps to

protect privacy on-line.



                                   ###





            PROTECTING AMERICANS' PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE:

                        AN ELECTRONIC BILL OF RIGHTS





 "Privacy is a basic American value -- in the Information Age, and in

every age.  And it must be protected.  We need an electronic bill of

rights for this electronic age.  You should have the right to choose

whether your personal information is disclosed; you should have the

right to know how, when, and how much of that information is being used;

and you should have the right to see it yourself, to know if it's

accurate."       -- Vice President Gore



 In a major address at New York University this May, Vice President Gore

called for an Electronic Bill of Rights to protect one of the oldest and

most basic American values -- privacy -- with the rise of new

technology.  Today at the White House, the Vice President will announce

a series of measures that represent the latest step toward making the

core principles of the Electronic Bill of Rights a reality.  His plan

calls on everyone to do their part to protect individual privacy --

relying on private sector leadership where possible, legislation when

necessary, responsible government handling of personal information, and

an informed public.



 The Vice President will announce new action in four key areas:  



Protecting sensitive personal information.  Taking new executive action

and calling for tough new legislation to protect personal information

such as medical and financial records -- and ensuring that existing

privacy statutes are strong enough to protect privacy as technology

grows and changes;



Stopping identity theft.  Calling for strong new penalties for so-called

"identity theft";



Protecting children's privacy on-line.  Calling for strong new measures

to protect children's privacy on-line -- by ensuring that data is not

collected from children without their parents' consent;



Urging voluntary private sector action to protect privacy.  Challenging

the private sector to continue to take effective voluntary steps to

protect privacy on-line.





Sensitive Personal Information



Medical Records.  Currently, Americans have stronger privacy protections

for their video rentals than they do for their medical records.  The

Administration believes this is unacceptable.  The Administration has

proposed strong medical privacy recommendations and urged Congress to

pass legislation that gives Americans the privacy protections they

need.  If Congress does not pass strong medical privacy legislation,

the Administration fully intends to implement privacy protections

consistent with the authority given to us by the law.  For example,

next week the Administration is releasing a proposed rule to establish

standards for the security of health information used by health care

providers, health plans, and others (e.g. security and confidentiality

practices, access controls, audit trails, physical security, protection

of remote access points, etc.).



In 1996 Congress directed HHS to develop standards for unique health

identifiers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability

Act of 1996.  However, because the availability of these identifiers

without strong privacy protections in place raises serious privacy

concerns, the Administration is committed to not implementing the

identifiers until such protections are in place.  It is also important

to note that the privacy provisions passed in the House Republicans

patients' rights legislation last week certainly do not pass this test,

as this provision permits far too much disclosure of patient

information without consent.



 Financial records:  The Administration will direct Treasury and the

banking regulators to strengthen the enforcement of the Fair Credit

Reporting Act with respect to the sharing of information between banks

and their affiliates and "opt-out" notices for consumers.  The

Administration will also ask that Congress give bank regulators the

authority to examine financial institutions for compliance with the Fair

Credit Reporting Act.



 Profiling:  The Administration will work with the Federal Trade

Commission to encourage companies that build dossiers about individuals

by aggregating information from a variety of database sources to

implement effective self-regulatory mechanisms.   If industry attempts

at self-regulation are not successful, the Administration will consider

other means to ensure adequate privacy protection.



 Government information:  The Administration will launch a "privacy

dialogue" with state and local governments.  This dialogue will include

considering the appropriate balance between the privacy of personal

information collected by governments, the right of individuals to access

public records, and First Amendment values.  For example, the

digitization and widespread availability of public records has raised

serious privacy concerns.





Identity Theft



 Identity theft:  The Administration will urge the Congress to pass

legislation sponsored by Senators Kyl and Leahy to crack down on

"identity theft," which is the fraudulent use of another person's

identity to facilitate the commission of a crime, such as credit card

fraud.  According to law enforcement officials, the incidence of

identity theft is increasing rapidly, and current federal and state laws

do not provide sufficiently comprehensive privacy protection.



 Theft of personal financial information:  The Administration will work

with Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Representatives Leach and

LaFalce that will make it a federal crime to obtain confidential

customer information from a bank by fraudulent means.  In some cases,

people are obtaining information illegally and then using the

information for a legal purpose -- e.g., pretending to be a customer in

order to trick confidential information out of a bank, and then selling

that information to a private investigator or some other third party.





Children's Privacy



 Children's privacy:  The Administration will seek legislation that

would specify a set of fair information principles applicable to the

collection of data from children, such as a prohibition on the

collection of data from children under 13 without prior parental

consent.  The Federal Trade Commission would have the authority to issue

rules to enforce these standards.  Legislation is needed because

children under 13 may not understand the consequences of giving out

personally identifiable information.





Calling for Private Sector Efforts



 Privacy online:  The Administration will continue to press for industry

self regulation with enforcement mechanisms.  The private sector

continues to respond to the Administration's call for industry self

regulation.  For example, over 50 major companies and associations

engaged in electronic commerce have recently created the "Online Privacy

Alliance."  The Administration will monitor the progress of online

industry self regulation to ensure that the commitments made by

companies are implemented, that the enforcement mechanisms are

effective, and that the numbers of companies and organizations

participating in these efforts expands so that the efforts become

sufficiently broad based.





Increasing Public Awareness



 Public education:  The Administration will work with the private

sector, the privacy and consumer advocacy communities, and non-profit

organizations to develop a public education campaign to inform

individuals about how to exercise choice with respect to the collection

and dissemination of their personally identifiable information, and

about the technologies that can make that choice possible.





A Coordinated Approach



 Privacy coordination: OMB will be given responsibility for coordination

of privacy issues, drawing on the expertise and resources of other

government agencies.  This will help improve the coordination of U.S.

privacy policy, which cuts across the jurisdiction of many federal

agencies.