The Direct Marketing Association threw its support behind privacy efforts unveiled by Vice President Al Gore on Thursday.
In a commencement address at New York University, Gore called for “an electronic bill of rights for this electronic age.” He called on the Commerce Department to hold a summit on privacy within the next month to bring privacy and industry officials together to explore whether the industry can regulate itself.
Gore also unveiled a new Web site maintained by the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov on which individuals can prohibit companies from prescreening their credit records without their permission; prevent their driver's license data from being sold; and remove their name and address from marketing lists.
“The DMA is working closely with the Federal Trade Commission to enable consumers visiting the new privacy clearinghouse on the FTC's Web site to remove their names from marketing lists through a hyperlink to The DMA Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service,” said H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO of the DMA.
Gore also called on Congress to pass a law requiring that medical records be kept confidential.
