The move to mobile apps is bad for Do Not Track

The last few years have seen a heated argument between the advertising industry and privacy advocates over Do Not Track, a technology that allows Internet users to indicate that they wish not to be tracked online. But as users increasingly access the Internet via mobile apps rather than Web browsers, the current generation of Do Not Track technology could become less relevant.

A fifth of all Americans with cellphones say they primarily surf the Web using mobile devices — not a desktop or laptop, according to the Pew Research Center. According to Flurry, a company that helps advertisers track users' online behavior, 80 percent of US consumers' mobile-device time is spent in apps. Just 20 percent is spent in a browser. Compared against all forms of browsing (desktop and mobile), we spend 30 percent more time in apps than we do surfing the Web. According to Peter Swire, who helped lead industry negotiations on Do Not Track and who now sits on White House review panel on intelligence, the biggest focus in policy debates over Do Not Track has been on browsers. The current generation of Do Not Track technology, then, may not be effective at protecting users' privacy.