House Panel Mulls 'Do-Not-Track' Online Privacy Bill

"A House panel Thursday morning took up the question of whether a law establishing a so-called "do-not-track" mechanism to set limits on how much personal information Web companies can collect is needed to protect consumer privacy online.

"The hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's consumer protection subcommittee comes just a day after the Federal Trade Commission released a draft report advocating a Web-wide opt-out mechanism patterned after the popular Do Not Call registry that restricts the activities of telemarketers.

"The debate is preliminary at this stage, with no legislation backing the proposal having yet emerged and the congressional session drawing to a close. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass), the co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, announced at the hearing that he plans to introduce a bill next session that would establish a ban on Internet companies collecting information about children."

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