Proposed Bill Seeks Stronger Privacy Protection Offshore.

The article deals with the possible impact of the Safeguarding Americans From Exporting Identification Data Act (SAFE-ID), proposed by U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in April 2004, on privacy and computer security. Driving interest in such legislation are the growing privacy concerns relating to financial and health care information being sent offshore as part of outsourcing initiatives, including medical transcription work. SAFE-ID proposes a set of privacy-related conditions that need to be met by U.S. companies transmitting personally identifiable information to a foreign affiliate or subcontractor. Under the proposed act, companies could transmit such information to any country that is deemed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to have a legal system that provides for adequate privacy protection. But the law as proposed does not address data that has already been transmitted to and stored in foreign locations. It is also vague about what would happen in situations when data might be retransmitted by subcontractors. There is a possibility that there will be a lot of interpretations if SAFE-ID becomes law. As of May 2004, the bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.