Microsoft Criticised By U.S. Ad Industry Over Default Do Not Track In IE10

[engine]

A U.S.-based organization representing the advertising industry has sharply criticized Microsoft for its decision to enable the Do Not Track feature in a standard installation of Internet Explorer 10, the default browser in Windows 8.

In an open letter to Microsoft published on its website, the Board of Directors of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) called Microsoft’s decision “shocking” and argued that “Microsoft’s announcement has been uniformly met with outrage, opposition, and declarations that Microsoft’s action is wrong.”Microsoft Criticised By U.S. Ad Industry Over Default Do Not Track In IE10 [zdnet.com]

[xcoder]

Very interesting development.

Questions asked:

1) What if a site owner ignores the "do not track" headers? can he/she be successfully sued ?

2) What does the "do not track" business really mean? are server logs (including user ip, browser plugins, etc.) considered tracking? or is it just the cookie side of things that is the issue?

Huge can of warms...

[edited by: xcoder at 10:40 pm (utc) on Oct 3, 2012]

[albo]

They argue that Microsoft's decision to leave DNT on will "...harm consumers, hurt competition, and undermine American innovation and leadership in the Internet economy." Reeks of "truth, justice, and the Amercian way" or "Mom and apple pie".

[Leosghost]

Now I can't get... O Superman..( Laurie Anderson ) out of my head ..:)

[incrediBILL]

1) What if a site owner ignores the "do not track" headers? can he/she be successfully sued ?

Could the bad guys, scrapers and such, which are tracked by many in efforts to block them, turn the table and claim the "do not track" headers apply to them as well?

FWIW I think MS is within their rights to ship the browser with max security on and let the user decide how much to disable. They're protecting the technically challenged that don't know about "do not track" and there are many.

[bill]

The ad industry has deluded itself into believing that without these tracking metrics they can't provide value to their clients.

[Marshall]

Personally, I am against anything that defaults to 'on' when purchased/installed, emphasize purchase. And how does this affect 'society' as a whole. Mountain out of a mole hill if you ask me.

Marshall

[blend27]

Most Americans have not heard of "Do Not Track," a proposal to allow Internet users to exercise more control over online advertising. However, when probed, most prefer that Do Not Track block advertisers from collecting data about their online activities. This is a much more privacy-protective approach for Do Not Track than what has been proposed by the advertising industry.

Recent survey from Berkeley posted on [papers.ssrn.com...]