Yesterday, Senators John Kerry and John McCain unveiled the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, the pair’s long-awaited legislation addressing consumer privacy rights on the Internet. The legislation comes in response to a growing backlash among consumers against aggressive Internet tracking and the growing reach of the data mining industry.

Reaction to the bill has been swift, with some praising the legislation, and others criticizing it. In this round-up, we’ve pulled together links to 10 different articles on the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act. We hope it is useful in helping you understand this new legislation.

CNN: Privacy ‘bill of rights’ would regulate opt-in, opt-out

This article by CNN’s John D. Sutter gives a good overview of the legislation and how industry groups have reacted so far.

PCWorld: Kerry-McCain Privacy Bill: What You Need to Know

PCWorld’s Jared Newman recaps the bill, offering a breakdown of the legislation and how each element of the bill might affect Internet users.

Wired: Legislation Would Let You Opt Out of Online Web Tracking

In a post for Wired’s Threat Level blog, which focuses on privacy, crime, and security issues, David Kravets discusses the legislation and offers criticisms from the ACLU and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Wall Street Journal: Senators Offer Privacy Bill to Protect Personal Data

Julia Angwin, who has been involved heavily with the Wall Street Journal’s excellent “What They Know” series on data privacy, offers a thorough analysis of the bill in this Wall Street Journal report.

IT World: Five big problems with that new Privacy Bill of Rights

In an analysis for IT World, tech writer Dan Tynan outlines what he considers to be five problems with the Kerry-McCain legislation. Tynan’s criticism focuses on the bill’s lack of consumer protections.

CNET: Privacy ‘bill of rights’ exempts government agencies

In his report, CNET’s Declan McCullagh discusses an element of the legislation that has been ignored by many other commenters, namely that it doesn’t apply to “data mining, surveillance, or any other forms of activities that governments use to collect and collate Americans’ personal information.”

Official Statement from the Center for Democracy and Technology

The Center for Democracy and Technology, one of the leading advocacy organizations for consumer privacy, released an official statement about the legislation. In the statement, the CDT’s Justin Brookman states, “The Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act provides a solid foundation for the discussion of how to enact such protections over the months ahead.”

New York Times: Senators Propose New Online Privacy Law

In the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog, Tanzina Vega outlines the bill and discusses some of the initial reaction to it from Internet advertisers.

Forbes: John Kerry and John McCain Want Your Company To Hire a Privacy Officer

Forbes’ blogger Kashmir Hill writes about the legislation and discusses one particular line that states companies with info on more than 5,000 consumers must implement a “comprehensive information privacy program,” which could, in theory, necessitate the creation of a privacy-focused executive position for many companies.

PCMag: Sens. Kerry, McCain Introduce Online ‘Privacy Bill of Rights’

In another excellent recap of the bill, Chloe Albanesius discusses the basic elements of the legislation and how varied industry groups have reacted to it.