FTC proposes 'Do Not Track' tool for Web marketing, hmmm
So basically this is like a Do Not Call list for your online presence. While I can appreciate the intent, I think this is wacked (sorry, couldn’t think of a more appropriate word).
A pure do not track tool would put many folks out of business or force them to be deceptive in their approach to its consumers. And it’s unnecessary. And not very enforceable (just bounce your stuff off some server in another country, tadah!)
Could you imagine a Bing or a Google or a Yahoo unable to track what you were doing in response to their content? That’s pretty much their whole monetization strategy, no? A literal interpretation could prevent useful results in search engines as well (the general quality of search results can be a debate for another day). Great way to preserve American jobs?
So the way around it is some 4pt font legal agreement that says by clicking here you agree to tracking. No agreement, no service. Where does that lead us? Paid subscriptions to these providers so they can still float when we deny them their ability to throw some ads in the results?
Until we start paying per click as consumers on the internet, I say no harm no foul. Keep it on the radar for when some folks go overboard and require us to step in. There exists now tools to deny ads from displaying in your browser. You can opt out of emails and set up rules for spam content easily. It’s more about educating the general public in these tracking strategies and giving them some best practices to follow to determine their comfort level and change their internet behavior accordingly.
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