Obama to Propose Consumer Data Protection Plans

In tonight’s State of the Union address (SOTU), President Barack Hussein Obama is expected by many pundits to ‘take the gloves off’ and outline a far reaching, liberal-leaning (some say socialist, relatively speaking) agenda. And why not? He’s got nothing to lose.

But as important, he’s expected to discuss his proposals to address how consumers’ personal data is handled. SAMCAR ( in concert with NAR) supports a single federal standard for data breach notification and wants to ensure any legislation enacted is narrowly tailored to protect small businesses from unnecessary compliance burdens.

Among El Presidente’s proposals are “The Personal Data Notification & Protection Act” which clarifies and strengthens the obligations businesses have to notify customers when their personal information has been exposed including establishing a 30-day notification requirement from the discovery of a breach. Interestingly, it’s unclear whether President Obama will highlight the actions of Bank of America and JPMorganChase – who have joined a growing list of firms making credit scores available for free to their consumer card customers – as he did in a speech before the FTC.

Additional proposals he may touch on during the SOTU include a “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” to give people more control over their data. Tangentially, SAMCAR has been active in the Net Neutrality issue… which can and will have a significant impact on real estate and home sales.

Net Neutrality. It’s a phrase that’s forced its way into our everyday vocabulary... and may find its way into the SOTU. People think the rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to overcome the judicially mandated loss of net neutrality will lead to a world where Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Comcast and Verizon can sell special treatment to web companies like Google and Netflix, charging extra fees to deliver their online videos and other content at fast speeds. This is particularly vexing for real estate.

Problem: The Internet already operates that way. Privileged companies (including Google, Facebook, and Netflix) benefit from what are essentially Internet fast lanes, and this has been the case for years. Most of the web heavyweights - and others - now have direct connections to big ISPs like Comcast and Verizon, and they run dedicated computer servers deep inside these ISPs. In technical lingo, these are known as “peering connections” and “content delivery servers,” and they’re a vital part of the way the Internet works. (Clear as mud?)

Safeguarding your personal data while ensuring Net Neutrality will be no mean fete.