In the 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama made a sweeping promise to safeguard the right to privacy, as well as more specific pledges such as mandating standards for companies to secure customers" personal data. Privacy in the digital age remains an open issue, likely to get attention this year from both the White House and the new Congress.

In May 2011, the White House unveiled its cybersecurity legislative proposal, which included proposals for protecting the nation's power grids and computer networks but also individuals' personal data. Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, called it a "comprehensive and generally widely-praised” platform.

Obama also proposed a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, aimed at guiding both consumers and companies that handle private information.
   
The bill of rights says consumers have a right to expect that organizations will use their data for the same purpose they provided it, that their data will be handled responsibly and with limits, and that they can access is easily.
   
When the White House introduced the document in February 2012, it said that the U.S. Commerce Department would bring together companies, privacy and consumer advocates, technical experts and academics to establish specific practices or codes of conduct. The goal is for those codes to become legislation, but that hasn't happened yet.

"Special interests want to defeat any privacy law that might impact their wild-west use of personal information on the Internet and they also want dilute the impact of stronger pro-privacy efforts in Europe,” Mierzwinski said.
   
But personal data protection and cybersecurity are shaping up as priorities in the next Congress.
   
Congressional Quarterly Today reported in September that Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., introduced two bills that address consumer privacy and Internet governance issues. One of the measures laid out proposals "to update electronic privacy law that predates the Internet so that consumer emails and electronic data are protected from unwarranted government surveillance.”
   
Neither bill passed, but CQ reported that Lofgren planned to reintroduce them in the 113th Congress.

The New York Times reported in January 2013 that tech companies are bracing for another fight -- and stepping up lobbying efforts -- after successfully fighting back new privacy laws in the previous Congress.
   
Obama also has reportedly drafted an executive order governing an array of cybersecurity issues. The move has drawn criticism from some Republicans, but it's a sign that tackling Internet privacy remains on the radar. We'll keep tabs on how this issue advances and keep our rating at In the Works.