

Google Holds Out Against ‘Do Not Track’ Flag - ajhai
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/04/chrome-do-not-track/

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qjz
The 'Do Not Track' proposal is a travesty, because it depends on the
participation of the violator. Furthermore, it completely invalidates itself,
because the only method of compliance is through tracking!

Privacy control needs to be in the hands of the user, before a tracking site
is even resolved via DNS. A combination of extensions like RequestPolicy and
BetterPrivacy go a long way towards achieving this (but new tracking
techniques are always being developed). Browsers need to have some of this
functionality built-in, instead of trying to protect the sheep by supporting a
protocol developed by wolves.

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antimatter15
From what I understand, the do not track header is added to ever single
browser request when the option is enabled. With virtually nobody actually
obeying the do not track header, all it is for the time being is a waste of
bandwidth. Certainly not a lot, but it probably adds up.

Yes, in theory a decentralized system for indicating privacy settings is a
great idea, but the large scale offenders, the only people whose networks span
a great enough breadth in order to collect useful information on people,
happen to be a pretty small number. A quasi centralized system with opt out
cookies has less of an overhead, less ambiguity and most importantly of all,
already exists and works.

Plus, tracking on the web is not a binary thing. Maybe for a simple blog or
ad, it might be less ambiguous. But are you still allowed to be able to know
how many visitors you have on a given day? If your on a web app, does do not
track mean you can't save any documents because they constitute a digital
trail of what you've done?

A system to fight tracking needs to be nuanced. Something like that disconnect
extension, where it's not simply on or off.

If you think about it, google doesn't really have any real reason to hinder
the adoption of DoNotTrack to preserve it's data mining business. A do not
track header standard would hinder competitors equally, whereas the opt out
cookies would single out google. If i were in that position, I would choose
the option that hinders my competitors as well.

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robotron
From the article itself: "Even if Google adopts it, right now the tool is in
some ways toothless."

So, kind of a baiting headline.

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andrewreds
I am with Google in not supporting this flag. I think it will just bring on a
false sense of security.

I feel that the other browsers are just trying to get a tick in the privacy
features box.

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dustingetz
uninformed rant: Do-not-track headers feel like a sham. When you access
content and services funded by advertising, you opt in to advertising. I think
a service would be fine to ignore the header, because the user has presumably
already implied permission to be tracked by accessing the service.

Consumers want 'cheap' far more than they want privacy. They sign up for
retail credit cards to save $20 on a single order. They scan their grocery
keytag every time they shop. They give their mailing address for a free
t-shirt. Maybe you guys don't do this, but I still find myself irrationally
hemming and hawing over a small purchase. To fix this, the way we think about
money as a culture would have to shift.

Privacy awareness is a good thing coming out of this, and consumers
understanding privacy can lead to better choices and more competition, but in
the short term I don't see much practical impact.

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latch
Shouldn't the real question be whether the Google Analytics, google.com and
adwords servers listen to the new header?

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dustingetz
i think its interesting what might happen if this movement gained enough
traction to hurt google's adwords revenue. How much is a tracking cookie worth
to them? would they require opting-in to tracking to use google services? is
no-track enough of a competitive distinction that mainstream consumers will
pay money for no-track services? is it enough money for a no-track business to
compete, and will they find unexplored ways to make money?

