W3C Working Group on Track with Do Not Track Talks

The 2012 debate over privacy issues ended in a logjam over fundamental differences between advertisers, marketers and others who use tracking information to help target ads to consumers based on their interests, in dispute with privacy advocacy groups who, along with the Federal Trade Commission, maintain that consumers must be provided with a way to opt-out of tracking mechanisms that follow them as they navigate their way through the digital world. The World Wide Web Consortium (“W3C”), Tracking Protection Working Group, a consortium of companies and individuals that drafts guidelines for marketing on the Web, has been in talks about “Do Not Track” (“DNT”), and has entered a new phase of activity in 2013, with the renewed goal of bringing both sides to a working agreement in the development of technical DNT standards, and adopting a mutually acceptable standard. With the recent appointment of Peter Swire, a University of Ohio professor of law and former White House privacy advisor who will co-chair the DNT working group along with Intel’s Matthias Schunter, the discussion is expected to continue weekly in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding the compliance specification and draft text for a point by point resolution.