FTC Wants 'Do Not Track' Privacy Option in Browsers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing for users to be given an uniform and persistent way to opt out of online tracking and behavioral advertising.

Recent times have seen companies abuse new technologies to track users' browsing habits without their permission in order to serve them customized content and ads.

For example, in 2006, BT, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world, secretly tested behavioral advertising technology on its UK customers, without notifying them that their browsing was being monitored.

The incident resulted in a complaint filed against the United Kingdom at European Court of Justice by the European Commission, for failing to properly implement EU directives on privacy and data protection.

Several lawsuits have been filed this year against large media companies like Disney, Warner Bros. Records, Ustream and others, who allegedly used Flash local storage to re-spawn tracking cookies that were deleted.

More recently, many Facebook application developers were caught passing unique user IDs (UIDs), that could be used to track users, to their advertising partners, sometimes in exchange for money.

In its report [pdf] entitled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change,” the FTC concludes that “current privacy policies force consumers to bear too much burden in protecting their privacy.”

The Commission says that users should have an uniform and easy to understand way of deciding whether to allow the collection and use of their Web searching and browsing activities.

“The most practical method of providing such universal choice would likely involve the placement of a persistent setting, similar to a cookie, on the consumer’s browser signaling the consumer’s choices about being tracked and receiving targeted ads,” the FTC believes.

Of course there is still a long way to go until this becomes a reality, if it ever does. This report is meant to serve as guidance for trade associations like the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) or policymakers and ultimately the decision is theirs.