• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, April 13, 2011

One day after an online privacy bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) unveiled a privacy bill in the House of Representatives.

But unlike the bill proposed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), Stearns' measure would not require companies engaged in cookie-based behavioral targeting to notify consumers about online data collection and allow them to opt out. Instead, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011 would only impose new requirements on companies that collect "personally identifiable information" like names, email addresses, phone numbers.

The bill specifically excludes "anonymous or aggregate data, or any other information that does not identify a unique living individual" from its definition of personally identifiable information.

Stearns' measure would require companies that collect personally identifiable information to post privacy policies "written in plain language." The measure would allow consumers to opt out of the sale or use of their personally identifiable information.

The bill would not affect most ad networks engaged in behavioral targeting because those companies do not usually collect users' names, addresses or other so-called personally identifiable information.

Two other bills pending in the House would impose stricter limits on ad networks engaged in behavioral targeting. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) recently proposed the Do Not Track Me Online Act, which would enable the Federal Trade Commission to issue regulations ensuring that consumers can opt out of online data collection by companies engaged in interstate commerce.

In addition, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) recently put forward the same proposal he introduced last year, which requires Web sites to obtain users' permission before sharing their personal information with third parties. His measure calls for users to explicitly consent to the data transfer, unless the companies collecting the information participate in an opt-out program operated by industry groups.

The Direct Marketing Association said Wednesday in a statement that it has "concerns" that privacy legislation such as Stearns' proposed bill could have "unintended consequences for the growth of the direct marketing/information economy and the millions of jobs it supports."