Do Not Track effort at a crossroads

A group of companies and privacy advocates working to create a tool that would allow users to opt out of online tracking will vote on whether to continue. The group has missed multiple deadlines to produce a document describing a Do Not Track standard, and some stakeholders left the talks in the recent months, citing frustration with the way the process has been handled.

The most recent departure from the group was the Digital Advertising Alliance, which works with online advertising networks that depend on online tracking. When the group can’t agree, its leaders will call for objections and “pick the least objectionable option,” Justin Brookman, co-chairman of the group and director of the Center for Democracy & Technology’s Project on Consumer Privacy said. If the group does not want to move forward, it would be “better to end it now than spend another two years squabbling and not coming to resolution because people aren't invested in the process,” Brookman said.