FTC Defends W3C's Do-Not-Track Initiative To Congress

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz told Congress that the agency supports the efforts of the standards group World Wide Web Consortium, which is developing voluntary guidelines for a do-not-track system.

"The Commission has repeatedly and forcefully called for industry -- not government -- to implement a Do Not Track mechanism that would allow consumers to decide whether to have their online activity ... collected," Chairman Leibowitz said in the letter to Congress. "The standard-setting work of the W3C, which includes a number of (Digital Advertising Alliance) members, is another important means for giving consumers greater control over the tracking of their online activities." He sent the letter in response to a request for information by Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and seven other Republican House members. They wrote to Chairman Leibowitz, asking about the FTC's role in the W3C's do-not-track initiative.