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[Margaret Tarbet <tarbet@swaa.com>]

IDG) -- The U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday tried to quell
corporate fears in the United States that the government's
data-privacy proposal designed to satisfy European regulators could
be extended to U.S. citizens domestically. 

The government's data-privacy proposal, which includes what are
known as "safe harbor" principles, was developed strictly to meet
the requirements of the European Union's (EU's) Directive on Data
Protection, which prohibits the export of EU citizens' data to
countries that do not offer "adequate" privacy protection, Under
Secretary of Commerce David Aaron said Monday during an address
before the Information Technology Association of America in
Washington. 

"In no way does the U.S. government intend for these safe harbor
principles to be seen as precedents for any future changes in the
U.S. privacy regime," Aaron said, according to a transcript of his
speech. "Indeed, some of these principles might not be appropriate
in a strictly American context."

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9903/17/eu.usprivacy.idg/

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