Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is planning to introduce The Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011. This story emerged on Friday but the bill will be formally introduced this week. It would be focused on companies that do business online. They would be forced to honor the wishes of users who do not wish to be followed around the internet. It’s very much in line with what the Federal Trade Commission has been requesting for a while now and indeed it would give a great deal of power to the FTC in enforcing the new law. John Kerry and John McCain recently introduced an online privacy act that did not include a Do Not Track provision, though Kerry said such a measure could be considered during the legislative process. Will Rockefeller’s bill pass? Who knows? But given this bill, Kerry-McCain, and numerous other bills floating around, it’s clear that online privacy is emerging as a big political play for congress.
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