Slashdot Mirror
Study: Ad Networks Not Honoring Do-Not-Track
itwbennett writes "According to a new study from Stanford University's Center for Internet Society, almost half of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) members that Stanford studied left tracking cookies in place after a Web user opted out of targeted ads. NAI's executive director said that with no consensus on what do-not-track means, ad networks continue to gather data for business reasons other than providing targeted advertising. 'Under the NAI self-regulatory code, companies commit to providing an opt out to the use of online data for online behavioral advertising purposes,' Curran said. 'But the NAI code also recognizes that companies sometimes need to continue to collect data for operational reasons that are separate from ad targeting based on a user's online behavior.'"
These are three things I like.
You can probably still track me if I visit you site, but I'm damned if I'm going to help you.
Unlike the government the 'invisible hand' is not watching our back. Of course, the reason the government is watching our back is because it is looking for an opportune time to stick a knife in it.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Not surprised at all. Look at how effective the "do not call" list has been?
It works for the most part, but the information is still available and for sale for scrupulous telemarketers.
Not surprised that this "do not track" can easily be worked around.
Previewing comments are for sissies!
I checked the "Do Not Track" checkmark, and honestly didn't expect ANY of the advertisers to respect the completely voluntary setting. The fact that any of them, let alone 50% are actually respecting it is a big improvement.
Just you.
For those people who tried to argue against Adblock and other tools to help users control how their information is used and how their browsing experience plays out, this should take the wind out of their sails at least a little. Browser developers and advertising companies came up with a standard for not tracking the users who don't want to be tracked and the ad companies promptly turned around and fucked those users over. Why should we respect the wishes of marketers who don't want us blocking ads now?
Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
http://www.tsanewsblog.com
The government will stab you in the back. Globalist multinationals will stab you in the front. It's a two-headed monster.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
Who in their right mind expected that if you give anyone full control over a lucrative resource and then tell them not to use it although you have absolutely no power to enforce your demand that they would respect your request? I mean, not even your kids respect anything you say that goes against their will if there isn't a consequence for their infraction.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
Data is how these companies make money. No one wants to buy ads if the ad company can't tell their clients how many views and unique views the ads are getting. Data is their lifeblood and they aren't going to stop because we asked nicely.
"Hi, we would like you to voluntarily limit your sources of revenue by not giving your customers, advertisers, the tracking options that they want."
doesn't work folks
sorry, the market doesn't regulate itself in some respects. mostly in those respects that involve moral behavior. you need regulation and enforcement for that
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
People respond to incentives. You cannot just ask someone to do something. I'm not sure why it continues to be a surprise when someone does/doesn't do something, when they have no incentive to change their behavior. We've been wired this way since the beginning - shouldn't this be obvious?
mov ah, 4ch
int 21h
Indeed, the 'invisible hand' is more interested in what we have in our pockets.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
It's still there but even with it checked I still keep seeing slashvertisements for Bitcoin. It must be broken.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
And the 'invisible hand' will always be watching our back.... or is it ...
...applying the lubricant between our blithely parted cheeks? Yeah. Pretty much.
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm is a good place to start. Even though it is directed at Windows users, it works on any OS that uses a hosts file.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I work as a software engineer for an affiliate networking advertising company. Our business wouldn't exist if we couldn't track a click from a publisher (affiliate, like a deal blog or a search engine) to an advertiser (merchant, somebody selling stuff). I am extremely familiar with how we handle customer data, and we have no use for it. Our tracking technology aggregates the majority of the information related to sales fairly early on in the data pipeline and discards a lot of it after a relatively short time (hours). We have external and internal auditors that check up on the methods we use to clean personally identifiable information (PII, as they always call it). Even something as relatively benign as our own client's e-mail addresses are secure. When it comes to the likes of our actual advertisements, our company culture is nearing paranoia about NOT storing PII because even an accidental leak would reflect poorly on our clients and be devastating to our business. I really hope the other advertising companies see the risk of collecting this information as expensive as we do and take as much effort to avoid letting it be traceable back to individuals.
I have to say this: the opinions and statements are my own and not those of my company in any way.
Nah when I have apache installed locally instead of ads I get a bunch of porn ...
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
ROFL - don't you understand? When the market is abused, the invisible hand DOES correct things... Through government regulation. That's what capitalism in a democracy (even in a Republican Democracy like ours - the level of abstraction just creates 'lag' - though that lag IS painful) is all about. The error most who call themselves 'Libertarian' make nowadays is considering government to be separate from markets; that regulations maliciously spring from nowhere simply to server politicians who are never serving constituents - they don't look any deeper than the businesses they favor over the citizens that make up the markets.
Paranoia is a Survival Trait!
My experience has been that most new government regulation is designed to "fix" problems that were created by government regulation in the first place. When the market has been abused (almost always the result of government regulations), it results in government regulations that make the market even more susceptible to abuse.
It has gotten to bad that the current administration has the guts to call for new laws and regulations to "fix" a problem that was created by them actively not enforcing current laws and regulations (look into "Operation Fast & Furious").
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
I don't get all the hype with the Do-Not-Track, because from the beginning, I had zero faith in the method. Frankly, it's almost funny to read this now, when I knew this to be exactly what would happen. If not worse.
I mean, do you trust in a sign you'd put up on your front door, saying "Do not rob"? Thought so.
On Internet anno 2011, in the world we live in, with the kind of overpopulation and hunt for resources and money, the kiddie stuff that is "Do not track" does not work, at least not for your common greyzone law hustlers. The thinking needs to go in to other places, like a comfortable cookie policy that can also communicate to and from the user. So that people save some cookies they want, and reject the others. I could go on and on, but it's not really that hard, but I am surprised this "Do not track" thing has gotten so far off the ground. One would think it'd die in infancy, like all the other obviously lousier ideas.
I am shocked, shocked, I tell you, to discover that "do not track" preferences are being ignored.
It's almost as if the trackers actually wanted to track you...
Remember to flush your cookies regularly in every browser you use, and to use a different browser for financial stuff (including purchases) than for regular browsing. And don't get me started about BaseFuck (or was it FaceBook).
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Regulation stifling competition is a soundbite, not a fact.
Or do you prefer to having mercury spread by coal fired power plants or lead paint all over your house?
If the new regulation erects a barrier so high that new business cannot compete using the existing process, then usually an entirely new way of doing things will overturn the monopoly.