Do-Not-Track-Me-Online Act

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Lagrangian
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It's almost kind of poetic sounding...maybe it's because of so many single-syllable words.
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California) introduced a bill Friday that would require online-tracking firms to allow citizens to opt out of tracking, or else face stiff fines.

The bill, known as the Do-Not-Track-Me-Online Act, intends to let people choose a no-tracking setting in their browser and have companies obey that setting. The rules would mainly apply to companies whose primary business is collecting and analyzing data, but has loopholes for companies that collect data to improve their own services. Under those provisions, the FTC could rule website-analytics software to be legal.

The FTC asked browser makers in December to include a Do-Not-Track button in their browser, and called on online-advertising companies to agree to obey the settings. The setting is already available in beta builds of Firefox, and will soon be integrated into Chrome and IE as well.
Of course it has exemptions, but still, it sounds pretty good to me.

Oddly, the proposed law would not likely affect the profiling practices of Facebook, which is becoming the leader in online targeted ads. That’s because the company collects information from users when users are logged into their accounts, focusing on what users tell the company about themselves, rather than doing what Google’s DoubleClick ad system does — watching what people do around the web.

I wonder if this means my AVP will stop having to remove the same nine programs every time it's run...
 

LOG

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There should be zero exceptions. This bill is an empty gesture.
You're right.
I was just so hopeful...

Even ignoring the government exemptions, I have a problem with them being allowed to make exemptions for "currently accepted business practices." That part is definitely faulty,
"Let's make a bill that can render itself inert."
"Genius!"
Why would you make a bill to stop businesses from knowing my business and then include the ability to just let them do it anyways?
Here's what the bill defines as "certain commonly accepted commercial practices:"
1 (1) Providing, operating, or improving a prod-
2 uct or service used, requested, or authorized by an
3 individual, including the ongoing provision of cus-
4 tomer service and support.
5 (2) Analyzing data related to use of the product
6 or service for purposes of improving the products,
7 services, or operations.
8 (3) Basic business functions such as account-
9 ing, inventory and supply chain management, quality
10 assurance, and internal auditing.
11 (4) Protecting or defending rights or property,
12 including intellectual property, against actual or po-
13 tential security threats, fraud, theft, unauthorized
14 transactions, or other illegal activities.
15 (5) Preventing imminent danger to the personal
16 safety of an individual or group of individuals.
17 (6) Complying with a Federal, State, or local
18 law, rule, or other applicable legal requirement, in-
19 cluding disclosures pursuant to a court order, sub-
20 poena, summons, or other properly executed compul-
21 sory process.
22 (7) Any other category of operational use speci-
23 fied by the Commission by regulation that is con-
24 sistent with the purposes of this Act.
2, 4 and 7 are vague.
I don't know what to make of 5 as something that could actually be practiced by a business...
And I'm not even sure what 7 is saying.
 

not_HarryS

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There should be zero exceptions. This bill is an empty gesture.

Why do you think web analytics should be illegal as well? Many companies need to track the traffic on, to, and from their site to improve and expand their services, deliver targeted content that they can statistically prove that their customers are interested in, and even customize service in a way that improves online experience.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's okay to phish or anything, but not all web-tracking is as nefarious as people like to think.