Submission Number: 00144 

Received: 12/6/2010 11:10:13 AM
Commenter: Gregory Byrd
Organization: 
State: Washington
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Initiative: A Preliminary FTC Staff Report on "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers"
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
As a family that places privacy high on its list of positive goals, we strive to limit data mining access to our online browsing. That attempt is time consuming, fraught with inconsistency and its effectiveness is always questionable. Additionally, those unscrupulous individuals and commercial entities who employ "opt-out" icons on their websites, often do as a part of fraudulent schemes to increase collection of data, place spyware or redirect to scurrilous websites. Instituting the proposal to provide balance for online consumer privacy interests is essential, in our opinion, and should be enacted immediately. Our quality of life has been greatly improved by the telephone opt-out choice that we strived for. It is past time to implement the same choice for online browsing. Enact laws that protect consumers from the invasive and harmful practice of selling our personal information without our permission. Pass legislation to allow a tough online opt-out choice now! Insure that stiff penalties for non-compliance infractions are instituted and enforced. Thank you Greg and Bonnie Byrd