Zach Miners

Chalk up another victory for corporate surveillance: Five years after advocates came up with an easy way to let you browse the Web with just a little privacy, the Do Not Track system is in tatters and that pair of boots you looked at online in April is still stalking you from website to website.

With a single browser setting, these advocates thought, users would be able to communicate a preference for their privacy. It would be easier than downloading add-on software or creating a blacklist of specific companies to block. Do Not Track, or DNT, would be the Web's version of the telemarketer Do Not Call list.

Today DNT hangs by a thread, neutered by a failure among stakeholders to reach agreement. Yes, if you turn it on in your browser, it sends a signal in the form of an HTTP header to Web companies' servers. But it probably won't change what data they collect. That's because most websites either don't honor DNT -- it's currently a voluntary system -- or they interpret it in different ways. Another problem -- perhaps the biggest -- is that Web companies, ad agencies and the other stakeholders have never reached agreement on what "do not track" really means.

Web users who are hopeful about DNT got a small boost in California. State Attorney General Kamala Harris issued guidelines to help companies comply with a new state law requiring them to disclose whether they honor users' DNT requests. But the law doesn't force them to use the system.

In an attempt at clarity, Google has amended its terms of service to say that it analyzes private data, including e-mails, for purposes including the delivery of ads and customized search results.

The changes to its terms of service come as Internet users continue to grapple with how and why companies handle their data. For Google, the issue concerns its automated scanning of emails and other data.

"Our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you with personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection," a new statement in the terms reads. The analysis occurs, Google said, as content is sent, received and stored.

The changes were made for clarity purposes, based on feedback the company received over the last few months, said Google spokesman Matt Kallman. "We want our policies to be simple and easy for users to understand," he said.