Improving Consumer Privacy
Through Executive Directive 5, the Governor tasked the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to convene a Working Group of relevant stakeholders to study the options for improving consumer privacy in Virginia. Pursuant to the Executive Directive, the Department’s effort was professionally mediated, and it brought together representatives of businesses in the Commonwealth, consumer advocates, state government officials, and citizens. Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Robert S. Bloxom chaired the proceedings and Secretary of Technology Aneesh P. Chopra served as vice chair.
The Working Group focused on three major initiatives for improving consumer privacy. In separate meetings, the group considered
- the feasibility of a Do Not Sell list;
- enacting a breach notification requirement; and
- enacting a credit report freeze option.
Breach notification requirements and credit report freeze laws have gathered momentum in many other states around the nation, but the idea of a Do Not Sell list is novel. A fourth meeting served to wrap up the discussions and talk about the report.
This report documents the efforts of the Working Group, which held meetings in August and September of 2007. Consensus exists on the spirit of the Executive Directive – recognizing the need to safeguard consumer privacy and to implement policies that will increase protection of consumers and businesses against identity theft, but opinions differ on how to best accomplish those goals.
The report was sent to the Governor on November 1, 2007. Please contact the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry if you are interested in obtaining a copy.