White House Supports Internet Privacy Protocol

WASHINGTON — The White House endorsed an Internet industry initiative Wednesday aimed at boosting online privacy through design changes to Web sites and browsing software.

The Clinton administration climbed aboard after the new technical protocol, years in development, underwent its first public test of how similarly engineered software applications would mesh. The test began in New York on Wednesday morning.

Industry leaders such as Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc.’s Netscape have pledged to rebuild their Web “browsers” to support the new architecture, called P3P, a moniker for Platform for Privacy Preferences.

The standards were developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, a global group drawn from industry, academia, privacy groups and public policy organizations.

P3P is meant to provide users with a clear understanding of how their personal data will be used by a given Web site. Operators may use the protocol to explain their privacy practices in a format that can be retrieved automatically by software.

Among the issues in dispute are the sharing of data with third parties and a consumer’s right to know what information is being gathered electronically as well as whether there is a right to review it.

Users will be able to configure their browsers or other software tools to steer clear of Web sites whose privacy policies do not match their configured preferences, much as a shopper might bypass a bricks-and-mortar store whose policies were found wanting.

The Clinton administration welcomed the industry approach as an example of the kind of private-sector leadership it hopes will make legislation in this area unnecessary.

“Today the White House is pleased to advance these goals by supporting an initiative that harnesses technology to protect privacy on the Internet,” presidential spokesman Joe Lockhart said in a statement.

The home page of the White House Web site will be among the first demonstrating the new P3P standard, along with that of the Commerce Department and 35 or so other sites, Lockhart said.

On May 22, the Federal Trade Commission, in a major policy shift, voted to seek new powers from Congress to police commercial Web sites’ privacy policies on grounds that self-regulation was not working. The Clinton administration withheld its approval, urging industry to address the problem.