1 The banking, insurance and securities trade associations presented similar papers at the privacy
summit.
[10117]
July 13, 1998
TO: INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE No. 21-98
SEC RULES COMMITTEE No. 72-98
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ISSUES WORKING GROUP
RE: INSTITUTE PRESENTS POSITION PAPER ON PRIVACY AT COMMERCE
DEPARTMENT SUMMIT
______________________________________________________________________________
On June 23 and 24, 1998, the Institute participated in a two day summit on Internet privacy
issues sponsored by the Department of Commerce. Consumer interest groups, government
personnel, and private sector representatives met to consider a number of issues relating to the
protection of consumer privacy. SEC staff and representatives of the European Commission were
also in attendance.
The Institute participated on a financial services panel on the second day of the summit to
address the question of whether broad federal legislation is necessary to protect privacy on the
Internet. In the context of this discussion, the Institute presented a paper entitled “Protection of
Privacy in the Investment Company Industry.”1 The Institute’s position, as expressed in the paper
and at the privacy summit, is that the federal securities laws provide an adequate framework to
address the protection of personal data and that the development of policies and practices by
investment companies will naturally evolve as a matter of good business practice. The Institute’s
paper also argues that the US should oppose the extraterritorial implementation of any foreign law,
such as the European Union Privacy Directive, that would restrict the ability of US investment
companies and investment advisers to receive important data from sources outside the US.
A copy of the Institute’s paper is attached.
Robert C. Grohowski
Assistant Counsel
Attachment