A bill updating how consumers give consent to video service...

The bill to amend the Video Privacy Protection Act, HR-2471, was approved by voice vote in the House Judiciary Committee last week. The bill preserves the VPPA’s protections for consumers, said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who introduced the bill in July. “However, it protects the consumer’s control over his information by requiring consumer consent” before sharing names of favorite TV shows or movies, he said. The bill passed with an amendment from Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., that would ensure that consumers are informed of the sharing option in a document that is separate from the terms and conditions of service. It’s this provision that could make the bill effective, said Justin Brookman, CDT consumer privacy director. “I wouldn’t want it to be amended where deep in the terms of service a company says, ‘by the way, what you do on Netflix would be shared here as well,'” he said in an interview. “It’s nice to have a provision in the law saying that customers need to give consent and this has to happen outside of a contract that consumers won’t read.” Goodlatte’s amendment is “an opportunity for people to move into the digital world and an opportunity to share what they want to share,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., co-sponsor of the bill. It represents “an important step forward for video service providers that are covered under the VPPA,” said the Digital Marketing Association. DMA commended committee members for their willingness to update the current law “while not changing the scope or breadth of service providers covered under the VPPA’s existing provisions.”