White House pushes online privacy bill of rights

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Obama administration on Thursday plans to unveil a new online bill of rights intended to protect consumers' privacy when they surf the Web.

The policy lays out a set of guidelines for Internet companies about how they should treat consumers' data and manage their customer interactions. It stresses transparency, security, and user control of their data. 

The bill is a splashy gesture, but it's also pretty toothless.

The White House admitted that its framework is fairly lightweight. It would like Congress to step up and lay down stricter mandates about what companies can do with their customers' data, but that's not going to happen any time soon.

In the meantime, the White House cast its bill of rights as a "comprehensive blueprint" for future legislation.

"It's not the end, it may not be the beginning of the end, but it's a very important step forward," Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said on a conference call with the media held Wednesday evening.

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