February 20, 2001
THE PRIVACY COALITION ANNOUNCES FIRST ENDORSEMENT OF PRIVACY PLEDGE The Privacy Pledge Receives Strong Support
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Privacy Coalition, a nonpartisan association of consumer, civil liberties, educational, library, labor, and family-based groups, is pleased to announce that the Privacy Pledge has received its first endorsement. The Privacy Pledge outlines key goals for privacy protection in the United States, and was presented just a week ago at a press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) is the first senator to endorse the pledge. In his recent election campaign, the Senator emphasized his intent to take affirmative steps to protect the privacy of Americans. In an event this morning in Tampa, Florida, Senator Nelson stated that "Clearly then there is a pressing need for federal protection of personal financial, medical and identity information." Citing the slow progress in Congress on these issues, he added that he would "work to make this year the year that the privacy logjam explodes."
Twenty-eight public interest groups, representing a wide variety of constituencies currently support the Privacy Pledge, including: American Association of Christian Schools, American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Media Education, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Consumer Action, Commercial Alert, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers Union, Eagle Forum, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Free Congress Foundation, Home School Legal Defense Association, Institute for Global Communications, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), Junkbusters, Media Access Project, National Consumers League, Net Action, Privacy Foundation, Privacy International, Privacy Journal, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Traditional Values Coalition, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Andrew Shen, Policy Analyst at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, stated that "The Privacy Coalition is addressing one of the most important issues of the Information Age and we appreciate commitments from members of Congress to take strong, affirmative steps to protect Americans' privacy."
Lori Cole, Executive Director of Eagle Forum, added, "Families across America are calling on their elected officials to stop the Big Brother snooping and snitching. They are looking to Congress to set a strong foundation of privacy protections that put people back in control of their personal information. Sen. Bill Nelson took the lead by signing the privacy pledge, but now it's time for his 99 Senate colleagues to choose between privacy or Big Brother."
The Privacy Coalition invites other members of federal and state legislatures to sign the pledge and thus protect one of the most important rights of Americans. More information about the Privacy Coalition and the Privacy Pledge can be found at http://www.privacypledge.org/
The Privacy Pledge reads as follows:
The Privacy Pledge Privacy is one of America's most fundamental values.
The Fourth Amendment states that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." In addition, the U.S. has adopted many laws protecting Americans from privacy invasive practices by both the public and private sectors.
Recognizing the need to protect this essential freedom, I, (insert Member's name), pledge to my constituents in (State and District) and to the American people that I will support a privacy framework to safeguard the rights of Americans in this information age.
This framework includes:
Additional information about privacy issues is available at http://www.privacy.org/