Draft Do-Not-Track Compliance Standard Published

On July 14, 2015, the organization in charge of developing uniform standards for World Wide Web technologies announced the “last call” for a draft proposal on how websites should comply with a user’s “Do-Not-Track” preference. If implemented, the proposal would be the very first formal standard for DNT compliance.

The proposed standard describes how service providers and advertising companies should honor user preferences and cease the collection of data from those that have enabled the DNT setting on their browsers. Limited exceptions have been proposed, such as to limit the number of times a user views a particular advertisement, to calculate ad impressions and for security purposes.

DNT was designed to provide Internet users with a simple mechanism to express a preference as to whether to allow online tracking of their network interactions. The proposed DNT compliance standard would require service providers to indicate whether they honor a user’s expressed tracking preference.

In line with the California Online Privacy Protection Act, first and third-party cross-website tracking are covered.

The draft compliance standard is intended to balance the beliefs of advertising technology companies and privacy advocates. The World Wide Web Consortium tracking protection working group is currently seeking public comment on the proposed standard. The public comment period ends October 7, 2015.

Information conveyed in this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute, nor should it be relied upon, as legal advice. No person should act or rely on any information in this article without seeking the advice of an attorney.