SAN FRANCISCO — A battlefront is forming over online privacy issues, and the National Association of Realtors has weighed in on its members’ ability to collect some user data.

Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., in May announced draft legislation that seeks additional protections for the privacy of consumers’ personal data, both online and offline, and would require many companies to provide "clear" and "understandable" privacy policies about how information is "collected, used and disclosed."

SAN FRANCISCO — A battlefront is forming over online privacy issues, and the National Association of Realtors has weighed in on its members’ ability to collect some user data.

Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., in May announced draft legislation that seeks additional protections for the privacy of consumers’ personal data, both online and offline, and would require many companies to provide "clear" and "understandable" privacy policies about how information is "collected, used and disclosed."

Mark Lesswing, chief technology officer for the National Association of Realtors, in a presentation today at the Real Estate Connect conference, said NAR is pursuing a sort of "opt-out" from some of the proposed provisions in the legislation, and the association expressed concerns about the "broad application, the burden of supplying privacy policy notifications for offline data and the conflicts that arise with existing federal privacy laws," according to an announcement at Realtor.org.

In a letter to Boucher and Stearns, NAR President Vicki Cox Golder wrote that the draft legislation, if enacted, could "impose a difficult and costly compliance burden on our industry especially impacting independent contractors and small businesses," and also could have "serious unintended consequences both for Realtors and for homebuying consumers."

The letter also states that the draft legislation provides no "safe harbor exemption of businesses complying with industry best practices," and introduces conflicts with existing federal privacy laws.

Lesswing said the draft legislation seems to particularly target the practice of reselling consumers’ information.

He noted that NAR "has one of the largest lobbying arms in Congress," to weigh in on legislation such as the draft privacy bill.

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×