Online privacy hearing today

The Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing today at 10am Eastern on the State of Online Consumer Privacy. Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D.-W.Va.) has said this is among his top priorities: “Modern technology has connected people with the world and led to new innovations, new products and new experiences,” Chairman Rockefeller said. “But with these new opportunities come new risks. I want to know if the privacy protections we have in place are enough, or whether Congress needs to step in and do more.” Testifying today will be officials from the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Microsoft and the American Civil Liberties Union. It’s thought there will be a push for a “privacy bill of rights” (What’s Kerry and McCain are working on), and a push for Congress to act on a Do Not Track option online.

Scott Adams (Dilbert) argues here that if we lived in a city without privacy, Noprivacyville, things would probably be a lot cheaper — health care and public safety and transportation costs would go down.