Opt-Out Provision Would Halt Some, but Not All, Web Tracking

Advertising and technology industries, which have been under pressure to do more to ensure privacy, said they would support a “Do Not Track” mechanism that would be clearly and uniformly adopted by browser vendors and would allow consumers to opt out of having some companies, but not all, keep data on their online activities.

While the agreement would limit certain types of data collection, consumers would hardly be invisible on the Web.“ ‘Do Not Track’ is a misnomer. It’s not an accurate depiction of what’s going on,” said Stuart P. Ingis, the head of the Digital Advertising Alliance, a trade group representing the advertising industry, which regards consumer behavior as crucial to its business. “This is stopping some data collection, but it’s not stopping all data collection.” But advertisers have plenty to fear if consumers use Do Not Track in large numbers. “If there’s a high rate of opt-out, it’s an issue,” said George Pappachen, the chief privacy officer of the Kantar Group, the research and consultant unit of WPP. “Our position is data should flow,” Pappachen said, adding that data helps drive innovation and newer commercial models.