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Privacy Groups Mull 'Do Not Track' List for Internet

Posted by Zonk on from the i'd-sign dept.

Technical Writing Geek writes with a Reuters story about a collection of privacy groups looking to set up a 'Do Not Track' list online, similar to the 'Do Not Call' list meant to dissuade telemarketing. "Computer users should be notified when their Web surfing is tracked by online advertisers and Web publishers, argue the Consumer Federation of America, the World Privacy Forum and the Center for Democracy and Technology, among other groups in a coalition promoting the idea. Rather than burying privacy policies in fine print, companies should also disclose them more fully and provide easier ways to opt out, the groups said. The organizations submitted the proposals to the Federal Trade Commission, ahead of the consumer watchdog agency's workshop on Nov. 1-2 to study the increasing use of tracking technology to target online ads.

4 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Do not spam? by ACS+Solver · · Score: 5, Funny

    So when will I be able to add my email to a "do not spam" list?

  2. Internet != Telephone by One+Childish+N00b · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The 'Do Not Call' list works - to a degree - because people who ignore it run the risk of legal action, due to all being inside the country they're calling. I can't see many companies going to the extent of running offshore telemarketing companies due to the high cost of international calls.

    This problem obviously does not exist on the internet - the cost of serving up those banners to millions of people clearly doesn't eat into the profits of these companies, so there's no reason for them to stop, and if laws are passed forcing them to stop, they'll simply be replaced by foreign companies advertising either on behalf of the same companies serving up the ads now, or set up by the advertising companies to circumvent the laws.

    This won't work.

    --
    Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
  3. Re:unrealistic goals by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Informative
    Agreed. Completely unrealistic. If you want to opt out of being tracked by advertisers, here are the only steps you need to perform:

    • Download Firefox
    • Install the Adblock Plus and NoScript extensions
    • T
    • Go to Edit | Preferences or Tools | Options (depending on platform) and go to the Privacy tab. Uncheck 'Accept cookies from sites'.
    • Click Exceptions. Add in all the sites that you use that need cookies to work right (online banking, Slashdot, etc.)


    Tada! You're done. Now you can't be tracked (unless you specifically want to be).

    --
    My blog
  4. on a "do not spam" list by khallow · · Score: 5, Informative

    The largest lesson in emal spamming has been that they'll send spam to anything resembling an email. They don't care where it came from or how and why they got it. So as I see it the only value of a "do not spam" list is that it will contain a lot of active email addresses. That is gold to spammers and I think anyone who believes such a list will reduce spamming (rather than have the opposite effect) is sorely deluded.