How California’s imminent Do Not Track law falls short – and why it matters anyway

[Commentary] A do not track transparency bill has landed on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk and indications suggest he will sign it before the looming deadline in mid-October.

AB 370 passed unanimously in the California Assembly and was sponsored by the governor’s political ally, Attorney General Kamala Harris. If Gov. Brown signs the bill, introduced by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), it’s likely to be portrayed as a bigger victory for privacy than it actually is — the latest indication of California boldly leading the way on online privacy. It’s not that. But it is a small and solid step forward. The law amends an existing statute requiring online companies that collect personally identifiable information to “conspicuously post” their privacy policies. Going forward, those policies would have to include how the sites respond to do not track requests or similar mechanisms. In another update — that is only a decade or so overdue — the site would also have to state whether or not third parties can collect identifiable information about users. Those parties would include the dozens or even hundreds of ad networks like TribalFusion, Facebook’s FBX and Google’s AdSense that inconspicuously track activity across a vast array of sites.