FTC May Cast A Closer Eye On How Businesses Share Personal Data

Personal information shared by users with corporate websites is nothing new; you probably routinely log in to sites to which you've provided information about your age and location, or provided a credit card number in order to buy merchandise. At least sometimes, some of that information is shared in ways that the typical user would probably neither anticipate nor appreciate. David Vladeck, new head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, has signaled recently that he's interested in tighter regulation of personal information shared online, even when it falls under the often-sweeping language of privacy agreements and sites' terms of use. An interview at the New York Times provides some insight into the regulatory environment that companies operating online may face in the course of the present administration — and it looks more stringent than online businesses have faced before, even while Vladeck shies away from saying that he supports "new rules."

Best practices

[kent_eh]

One place to start is to look at best practices of other governments.
I'm un-characteristically proud of what the government of Canada did in the Privacy Act [justice.gc.ca], and the creation of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner [priv.gc.ca].

Of course, it's not perfect, but It's pretty good. Especially compared to what I see in the rest of the world.