The FTC recently released yet another set of rules to regulate online privacy. As new technologies, especially Internet-related ones continue to surface, the different regulatory entities will have to continue developing new laws that are for the most part left in writing. The FTC will continue to create rules and companies will continue to violate them without major consequences for the most part. Of course, I’m not saying rules shouldn’t be created because some sorts of standards need to exist to help us understand “right” from “wrong”. But I do think that it would be best if more browsers took an honest step in favor of their customers by allowing them to truly decide whether they want to be targeted or not.
I said “more browsers” because Microsoft recently took a very important measure in terms of protecting the online privacy of their customers. According to a recent WSJ article, the technology giant decided to add a feature to the next generation of Internet Explorer that allows customer to select privacy settings that stops certain websites and tracking companies from gathering information such as web activity. They have done this despite the possible alienation of advertisers. The great news is that if Microsoft did it, Firefox, Google and others will probably have to follow. Hopefully this will become a requirement on the customer’s part when deciding which browser to use.
Advertisers of course aren’t happy with this measure. However, there could be a positive side for them if their customers are protected: they could be sued less! Of course, that weigh much less than the positives they get from tracking people but at least it is not all bad for them. Just last week, a website called YouPorn was sued for allegedly violating consumer protection laws by using “history sniffling”, which is basically tracking people and trying to tailor products and communication based on whatever they have seen online before (and it is assumed interests them). According to new sites, the porn site was tracking a couple of its users who are now very mad and are seeking unspecified damages through a class action status. If the big browsers had the “no tracking” option in place, YouPorn would not be in the court right now. So in the long run, privacy protection could have a positive side for everyone involved. Hopefully advertisers see the other side of the coin and understand the importance of privacy and that they should only want their customer’s information when their customers are willing to share it with them. In the meantime, it would be great for browsers to follow Microsoft’s lead.
Indeed Vero, It's up to each of us what we do or keep from doing to protect our privacy, but I still think that the whole thing shouldn't be left to the hands of consumers and software developers alone. There ought to be some rules as you say... and both the FTC and the FCC are in my opinion the right parties to draw the lines here. My only concern is that as things stand now, it's not a very clear line... it's rather a blurry strip... but even so, I think it's better to have at least this instead of having nothing at all. Loved the image you posted by the way!
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