DISADVANTAGES — CONSUM�ER/INTERNET 419
LINK: GOVERNMENT REGULATION
WHEN GOVERNMENT INTRUDES INTO THE MARKETPLACE, BUSINESSES ARE DAMAGED -- AND THE RISKS WITH CONSUMER PRIVACY REGULATION ARE LARGE
Sonia Arrison, director of the Center for Freedom and Technology at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, The San Diego Union-Tribune December 15, 1999, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-7: TITLE: UNCLE SNOOPY; Government may not be best in guarding consumer privacy // acs-EE2001
Whenever government intrudes into the marketplace, noble purposes notwithstanding, businesses and the consumers who rely on business innovation are harmed. In California alone, direct marketing accounts for an estimated $184 billion in sales and 1.6 million jobs, with more than $14.3 billion in tax revenues to the state.
GOVERNMENT INTRUSION INTO E-COMMERCE IS THE REAL THREAT
Sonia Arrison, director of the Center for Freedom and Technology at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, The San Diego Union-Tribune December 15, 1999, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-7: TITLE: UNCLE SNOOPY; Government may not be best in guarding consumer privacy // acs-EE2001
But even as companies and entire industries swiftly embrace meaningful self- regulation policies governing personal information collection and sharing practices, the prospect of government intrusion into virtually every corner of American commerce becomes more troubling than the problem itself.
REGULATION OF CONSUMER INFORMATION COLLECTION CAN HAVE SERIOUS HIDDEN ECONOMIC COSTS
Solveig Singleton, director of information studies at the Cato Institute, January 22, 1998 Cato Policy Analysis No. 295 PRIVACY AS CENSORSHIP: A Skeptical View of Proposals to Regulate Privacy in the Private Sector
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-295.html // acs-EE2001Because trade in consumer information serves an important economic function, regulatory obstacles to collecting this information can have hidden economic costs.(60)