FTC: Block Online Tracking!
July 29th, 2010 by ComputerBob
Ah-ha! I can tell that you’ve visited this site before!
In fact, you’ve been here several times before.
Do you want me to tell you exactly what days and times you were here, and exactly which of this site’s links you clicked on, and exactly which of this site’s pages you visited?
Plus which other sites you’ve visited lately, along with exactly which of their links you clicked on, exactly which of their pages you visited, and which items you purchased at each site?
How about if I tell all of that information to other Web sites?
Actually, I don’t do anything to track this site’s visitors.
But we all know that there are plenty of sites that do.
The good news is that, “The FTC wants a do-not-track mechanism that would allow Web users to opt out of online behavioral tracking, similar to the national do-not-call registry.”
The bad news: The FTC may not have the power to mandate such a thing.
As always, Slashdot’s readers have a lot of thoughtful things to say about the issue.
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http://www.computerbob.com/wp/ftc-block-online-tracking.php
Tags:
Consumer Info, Cybercrime, Ethics, Internet, Law, Rights, Security