• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 6, 2010

A privacy bill proposed by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) has garnered a large degree of support from three major tech companies -- eBay, Microsoft and Intel.

The bill, unveiled in July, requires Web sites to obtain users' explicit permission before sharing their personal information with third parties, unless those companies participate in a "universal opt-out" program operated by industry groups and overseen by the Federal Trade Commission.

In a letter to Rush dated Monday, and obtained by Online Media Daily, the tech companies mostly praise the proposal, stating that it "strikes the appropriate balance by providing businesses with the opportunity to enter into a robust self-regulatory choice program."

But the companies also criticize one aspect of the proposed measure -- that it would allow consumers to sue companies for violations. That provision, they say, "would create unnecessary litigation costs and uncertainty for businesses, but would not have a corresponding benefit to consumer privacy."

Rush's bill would apply when companies share data that is traditionally considered "personally identifiable" -- such as names and addresses -- as well as when they share information sometimes deemed "anonymous," like marketing profiles associated with particular computers.

Mike Zaneis, the Interactive Advertising Bureau vice president of public policy, said in July that the proposal was a "mixed bag."

Zaneis criticized the provision that would allow consumers to sue and also questioned why Rush would require the companies that don't participate in a self-regulatory program to obtain people's explicit opt-in consent before their information is transferred to third parties.