Regulating online privacy.

Kiplinger Business Forecasts, June, 2000

Byline:Carol L. Bowers

Congress won't ever get around to passing legislation to regulate consumers' online privacy despite being prodded to do so by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Barring some catastrophe, lawmakers will figure dot-coms do enough to protect customers' privacy and that government regulation would be overkill and virtually impossible to enforce.

The FTC itself recently issued a report that shows that the percentage of Web sites posting some kind of privacy policy has mushroomed from 14% to 88% in the past two years. Release of these statistics alongside the agency's recommendation that Congress enact privacy legislation is a head scratcher. "If you read this report, it's like bringing in your best employee, saying they're doing...

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