FCC Dismisses Petition to Honor Do Not Track Requests
posted Sunday Nov 8, 2015 by Nicholas DiMeo
With privacy being a hot button topic over the past few years, there has been a push for government agencies to step in and protect consumer data and consumers' wishes to remain anonymous on the Internet. The Federal Communications Commission literally did the opposite on Friday when the agency dismissed a petition that would have forced websites to adhere to a user's "Do Not Track" request when browsing sites like Google and Facebook.
Consumer advocate group Consumer Watchdog had previously filed a petition that would have the FCC big name sites to recognize and honor all Do Not Track requests coming from consumers across the US. Consumer Watchdog proposed a rule that would have also removed a website's ability to require users to consent to data tracking in order to use the site's features, read data on the site, and more.
Currently, some sites do in fact recognize Do Not Track requests that are placed from within a user's favorite web browser. If a site sees that the user has enabled that checkbox, it would opt said user out of third-party tracking and targeted ads, like from Google AdSense or Facebook Ads. Unfortunately many sites still do not comply with Do Not Track requests, and will now continue to dismiss those requests due to the FCC's dismissal of the proposal.
Consumer Watchdog writes that this type of protection and acknowledgement is needed in order for consumers to feel safer on the Internet.
Consumers' privacy concerns about the Internet extend far beyond the broadband providers who are impacted by Section 222. Many consumers are as concerned - or perhaps even more worried - about the online tracking and data collection practices of edge providers... edge providers collect the same sensitive personal information that broadband Internet access service providers collect, and that the Commission is committed to protecting. If the Commission does not act to regulate the collection of personal information by edge providers, the Commission will in effect be granting a regulatory advantage to the edge providers, implicating concerns of market distortions.
The FCC said that it dismissed the petition because it recently reclassified broadband as a common carrier service, and due to that reclassification, it will not regulate the Internet or its applications or content.
