Bloomberg reports on fundamental issues for U.S. regulator and legislator efforts to address online data privacy concerns, suggesting, "Central among them is the question of whether online privacy is a matter of personal property or of human rights." Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TX) said that as congress looks at regulating consumer privacy online, it must first determine what data privacy means, what should be regulated and how to balance consumer and commerce needs. "The crux of the issue is whether or not an online persona is an extension of a human being," the report notes, "or a mere collection of bits that can be bartered away for access to free e-mail or a social network."
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