WASHINGTON D.C. - The Progress & Freedom Foundation will hold a Congressional Seminar on Friday, July 22, on the pressing topic of data privacy and security. House and Senate legislation has been introduced, or is in the works, in response to highly publicized disclosures of personally identifiable information by various companies. PFF Senior Fellow and Vice President for Research Tom Lenard will moderate "Data Security and Privacy Protection: What is the Public Sector's Role?" and panelists will include former Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Orson Swindle, former Director of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau Howard Beales, and Emory University Professor Paul Rubin.

The PFF Congressional Seminar "Data Security and Privacy Protection: What is the Public Sector's Role?" will be July 22 from noon to 2 p.m. in Room B-369 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Lunch will be served. Those wishing to attend may register online. Media questions should be directed to Patrick Ross at 202-289-8928 or pross@pff.org. Other questions should be directed to Andrea Knutsen at 202-289-8928 or aknutsen@pff.org. This event is distinct from the PFF Congressional Seminar "Brand X: What's Next?" being held tomorrow, July 15.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and committee member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have introduced "The Personal Data Privacy & Security Act of 2005" (S-1332), one of several Senate bills on identity theft and data security and privacy, and the two intend to move the bill through committee soon. Key members of the House Commerce Committee, meanwhile, are circulating a draft bill that could be introduced and marked up at the subcommittee level before the August recess. The FTC is the lead agency addressing data security and privacy.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation has for several years conducted research in the area of data security and privacy. Both Lenard and Rubin, a PFF adjunct fellow, have testified on Capitol Hill on the topic. They also have authored numerous papers, including a 94-page study titled "Privacy and the Commercial Use of Personal Information." They are currently concluding a PFF Progress on Point on data security and privacy that will be released soon.

Swindle served as an FTC Commissioner for more than seven years, just stepping down recently, and also was Assistant Secretary for Commerce for Development under President Ronald Reagan. Beales has worked on and off at the FTC since 1983 in a variety of leadership positions at the Bureau of Consumer Protection, most recently as its director, and is an Associate Professor, Strategic Management and Public Policy at The George Washington University. He is also a Senior Consultant for CapAnalysis. Rubin is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Law and Economics at Emory University in Atlanta. He previously served as Senior Staff Economist at President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, Chief Economist at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Director of Advertising Economics at the FTC. He is an Adjunct Fellow with The Progress & Freedom Foundation.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.