Privacy is a big concern for citizens and the U.S. Government, so much to the point that President Obama and his administration culled an online “privacy bill of rights” that focused on discouraging and deterring data-gathering activities from various online web companies.
The Federal Trade Commission also got involved some time ago, asking online companies to employ a do-not-track policy and to cease employing tracking software or applications on their sites that would give them data and information about the visitors to their webpages. Up until now, there hadn’t been any compliance with this request until this week when Mozilla’s Firefox came forward with an introduction of a new tracking deterrent feature.
The do-not-track feature will be added to Firefox’s web browser, giving users control over having their online activity monitored and tracked. This action puts Firefox ahead as the first web browser company to comply with the FTC and is a culmination of talks and idea explorations that the company has been entertaining since late 2010.
Firefox will embed the feature into the web browser but will require an action by the user to be turned on and activated; there will be a box that will need to be checked to turn the feature on. Once it has been enabled, there will be a broadcasted message sent by Firefox to the websites that the user visits, displaying a do-not-track message. This message will also be displayed to the other various tracking companies that may also be hosted on or within those sites.
The tool will undoubtedly squelch immediate privacy concerns, but will still need the help of online companies for it to be effective. The companies have to agree to not monitor the users who enable the feature therefore keeping the spirit of the feature and its application genuine. As an added effort, Mozilla is asking for advertisers and online companies to join their efforts to honor and respect people’s privacy choices.
nt, so much to the point that President Obama and his administration culled an online “privacy bill of rights” that focused on discouraging and deterring data-gathering activities from various online web companies. The Federal Trade Commission also got involved some time ago, asking online companies to employ a do-not-track policy and to cease employing tracking software or applications on their sites that would give them data and information about the visitors to their webpages. Up until now, there hadn’t been any compliance with this request until this week when Mozilla’s Firefox came forward with an introduction of a new tracking deterrent feature. The do-not-track feature will be added to Firefox’s web browser, giving users control over having their online activity monitored and tracked. This action puts Firefox ahead as the first web browser company to comply with the FTC and is a culmination of talks and idea explorations that the company has been entertaining since late 2010. Firefox will embed the feature into the web browser but will require an action by the user to be turned on and activated; there will be a box that will need to be checked to turn the feature on. Once it has been enabled, there will be a broadcasted message sent by Firefox to the websites that the user visits, displaying a do-not-track message. This message will also be displayed to the other various tracking companies that may also be hosted on or within those sites. The tool will undoubtedly squelch immediate privacy concerns, but will still need the help of online companies for it to be effective. The companies have to agree to not monitor the users who enable the feature therefore keeping the spirit of the feature and its application genuine. As an added effort, Mozilla is asking for advertisers and online companies to join their efforts to honor and respect people’s privacy choices.
Jen Williams
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