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By JULIA ANGWIN

(See Corrections Amplifications item below.)

Sens. John McCain and John Kerry are circulating proposed legislation to create an “online privacy bill of rights,” according to people familiar with the situation, a sign of bipartisan support for efforts to curb the Internet-tracking industry.

John McCain

Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, are backing a bill that would require companies to seek a person’s permission to share data about him with outsiders. It would also give people the right to see the data collected on them. The bill is expected to be introduced ahead of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing next Wednesday on online privacy.

The move comes amid widening scrutiny of the tracking industry. In the past year, The Wall Street Journal’s “What They Know” series has revealed that popular websites install thousands of tracking technologies on people’s computers without their knowledge, feeding an industry that gathers and sells information on their finances, political leanings and religious interests, among other things.

In another sign of Washington’s efforts to regulate tracking, the Obama administration is moving to fill two key jobs related to privacy policy. People familiar with the matter said the administration is in talks with Jules Polonetsky, who currently heads the Future of Privacy Forum, an industry-funded think tank, to run a new privacy office in the Commerce Department. Mr. Polonetsky was previously chief privacy officer at online-advertising companies AOL Inc. and DoubleClick, now part of Google Inc.

John Kerry

Daniel Weitzner, a Commerce Department official who pushed for creation of the agency’s new privacy office, is expected to become deputy chief technology officer in the White House, where he would oversee a privacy task force, the people familiar with the matter said.

Sen. McCain’s endorsement of privacy legislation adds a prominent Republican voice to the issue, indicating that concern over Internet tracking crosses party lines.

In December, the Federal Trade Commission urged Congress to authorize creation of a “do-not-track” system, modeled after the do-not-call list that governs telemarketers. Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, introduced such a bill in January.

The draft Kerry-McCain bill would create the nation’s first comprehensive privacy law, covering personal-data gathering across all industries. That was a key recommendation of a recent Commerce Department’s report, developed in part by Sen. Kerry’s brother Cameron, the department’s general counsel. Current laws cover only the use of certain types of personal data, such as financial and medical information.

The Kerry-McCain bill would cover data ranging from names and addresses to fingerprints and unique IDs assigned to individuals’ cellphones or computers. It would also establish a program to certify companies with high privacy standards. Those companies would be allowed to sell personal data to outsiders without seeking permission in each instance.

A spokeswoman for Sen. McCain confirmed that the two senators were “in discussion” but said “we don’t have anything to announce at this time.” A spokeswoman for Sen. Kerry declined to comment.

Last week, Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns said he would introduce draft privacy legislation soon, although his approach would largely allow the industry to continue many current practices.

Speaking at the Technology Policy Institute, Rep. Stearns said his proposal would allow the FTC to approve a five-year self-regulatory program that would encourage companies to offer more information to consumers about how they were being tracked. “The goal of the legislation is to empower consumers to make their own privacy choices,” he said.

Write to Julia Angwin at julia.angwin@wsj.com

Corrections Amplifications:

Rep. Cliff Stearns is a Florida Republican. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that he represented Georgia.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B2

By KRIS MAHER And AMY MERRICK

Playing a game of political chicken, Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon, betting that even though their return will allow the bill to pass, the curbs are so unpopular they’ll taint the state’s Republican governor and legislators.

The Republicans rejected the idea that the legislation would hurt the GOP. “If you think this is a bad bill for Republicans, why didn’t you stand up in the chamber and debate us about it three weeks ago?” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. “People think it’s absolutely ridiculous that these 14 senators have not been in Wisconsin for three weeks.”

Getty Images

Protests continued Sunday at the state capitol in Madison.

The Wisconsin standoff, which drew thousands of demonstrators to occupy the capitol in Madison for days at a time, has come to highlight efforts in other states to address budget problems in part by limiting the powers and benefits accorded public-sector unions.

Sen. Mark Miller said he and his fellow Democrats intend to let the full Senate vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget-repair” bill, which includes the proposed limits on public unions’ collective-bargaining rights. The bill, which had been blocked because the missing Democrats were needed for the Senate to have enough members present to vote on it, is expected to pass the Republican-controlled chamber.

He said he thinks recent polls showing voter discontent with Mr. Walker over limits on bargaining rights have been “disastrous” for the governor and Republicans and give Democrats more leverage to seek changes in a broader two-year budget bill Mr. Walker proposed Tuesday.

Before Sunday’s developments, Mr. Walker said he wouldn’t be swayed by the polls. “If I governed by polls I’d still be in the state Assembly,” Mr. Walker said on Friday. “I won reelection twice as county executive in an area of the state that went two-thirds for President Obama by identifying a problem, telling people how I was going to deal with it, and then moving forward with the solution.”

Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for the governor, said Sunday that Mr. Walker “looks forward to the Senate Democrats returning as soon as possible.”

Mr. Fitzgerald, the majority leader, said Sunday that the “budget repair” bill can’t be amended at this point. But it’s possible that over the next few weeks adjustments could be made to Mr. Walker’s broader budget plan, he said. “This bill will pass. The collective-bargaining piece has to pass. If it doesn’t the governor’s budget doesn’t work,” he said.

Union solidarity rallies continue outside the Wisconsin Capitol as filmmaker Michael Moore tells the crowd that America is not broke, but that the elite controls the money. Video courtesy of NewsCore.

Mr. Miller declined to say how soon the Democratic senators, who left for Illinois on Feb. 17, would return. He said the group needed to address several issues first—including the resolution Senate Republicans passed last week that holds the Democrats in contempt and orders police to detain them when they return to Wisconsin.

Amid the public demonstrations and Democratic walk-out, the two sides have been negotiating. Mr. Fitzgerald said the governor is negotiating through two staff members with two Democrats, Sen. Bob Jauch and Sen. Tim Cullen. And last week, Mr. Fitzgerald met ago with Mr. Jauch and another Democrat in Kenosha.

Mr. Jauch said some people have suggested the lawmakers remain in Illinois for months while recall efforts of Republican senators proceed. He said that would be difficult for one senator who is seven months pregnant.

“I think we have to realize that there’s only so much we can do as a group to make a stand,” Mr. Jauch said. “It’s really up to the public to be engaged in carrying the torch on this issue.”

Brad Lutes, president of a local teachers union in Sun Prairie, Wis., said having Democrats return without getting bargaining curbs removed from the bill “would hurt,” but added, “I think they’ve done an awful lot being out as long as they have. It’s really given the people of Wisconsin an opportunity to see both sides of an issue.”

Protesters were allowed back inside the Captiol Friday, but with some strict rules. Video courtesy of Fox Television Stations.

Mr. Walker’s bill would prohibit bargaining over health care and pensions for about 170,000 public employees in the state and would allow public employees to opt out of paying dues or belonging to a union.

The bill also would end the automatic collection of dues by the state, and require that every public-employee union get recertified to represent workers through an annual election.

Mr. Miller said the Democrats also want to fight Mr. Walker’s recently announced two-year budget plan, which cuts spending by $4.2 billion, or 6.7%, including $1.25 billion less in state aid to schools and local governments.

As the standoff in Wisconsin has dragged on, several polls showed majorities of Wisconsin voters disapproving of Mr. Walker’s plan as it affects public employees. At the same time, the governor maintains strong support among Republicans. He also has significant backing from voters for his plan to have union members pay more out of their salaries toward their pensions and health care. A poll released Friday by Rasmussen Reports, based on a phone survey conducted March 2 of 800 likely Wisconsin voters, found 52% of them opposed weakening collective-bargaining rights, while 39% were in favor.

When asked whether state workers should take a 10% pay cut—roughly the equivalent of the governor’s plan—44% supported the move and 38% were opposed.

A poll by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, which calls itself the state’s “free-market think tank,” showed that more voters, particularly independents, disapproved of the governor than in a similar survey by the institute in November. Republican voters’ support remained basically unchanged from the fall. The poll was based on phone interviews of 603 Wisconsin residents and conducted Feb. 27-March 1. Both polls had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The results of both polls were echoed in a recent poll by The Wall Street Journal / NBC News, which found that 62% of Americans oppose efforts to strip unionized government workers of their rights to collectively bargain, even as they want public employees to contribute more money to their retirement and health-care benefits. The poll was based on nationwide telephone interviews of 1,000 adults, conducted from Feb. 24-28, by the polling organizations of Peter D. Hart and Bill McInturff.

Mark Jefferson, head of the Wisconsin GOP, said polls reflected the big campaign unions have launched in the state. “The millions of dollars in national union money for advertising have been effective at getting the union message out,” he said.

He said even after Mr. Walker’s plan is passed, the state’s public workers will still have more collective-bargaining rights than most federal workers, who can bargain over working conditions but not pay and benefits.

Several big public-sector unions in Wisconsin have already said they would agree to fiscal concessions in Mr. Walker’s bill, including contributing 5.8% out of their pay to pensions and 12.6% out of their wages for health-care premiums, up from 6% on average today. But they object to ending bargaining rights and other changes.

Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com and Amy Merrick at amy.merrick@wsj.com

One of the most common questions that I get is where in God’s name (no pun intended) do Wise Guys and sharp players get so much information? Just as the only way to Carnegie Hall is Apractice, practice, practice”, the only way to win in sports handicapping is Ainformation, information, information”. Read the rest of this entry »