A privacy bill that's pending in Congress could have significant IT ramifications for U.S. companies, since passage of the bill would require them to give customers access to personal information they have collected. For firms without centralized databases of that information, compliance would likely be expensive, critics warn.. . .

A privacy bill that's pending in Congress could have significant IT ramifications for U.S. companies, since passage of the bill would require them to give customers access to personal information they have collected. For firms without centralized databases of that information, compliance would likely be expensive, critics warn.

Companies such as Marriott International already have to provide access for their customers in Europe, where such laws are on the books now. If a European resident wants data other than what's available on the Marriott Rewards Web site, he must pay the company's special $20 privacy-policy charge for a personal data request. The company's U.S. privacy policy doesn't include this access provision.

That fee doesn't cover the cost of providing the data, said Stephanie Hampton, a spokeswoman for the Bethesda, Md.-based hotel chain. Assembling the information may require the help of a systems analyst, and "you can easily assume that $20 is a lot less than what they make an hour," she said.

The link for this article located at USA Today is no longer available.