So, i was recently reading a company’s online Terms of Service (TOS) and found the following interesting paragraph:
“There is no consensus among industry participants as to what ‘Do Not Track’ means in this context. Like many Websites and online services, we currently **do not alter** our practices when we receive a ‘Do Not Track’ signal from a visitor’s browser…”
My thoughts on the first sentence are, “Oh really?” How convenient. (sarcasm) I think what it means is that they are supposed to disregard and not aggregate (for marketing purposes) all the “clickstream” data they ramble on about in the previous paragraph i.e., where you click on a page etc. But, you have to love the second part. Because other Websites are abrogating your privacy we will follow suit with that. I call garbage on this. If a browser sends a “Do Not Track” (DNT) signal, it should be respected - - they won’t however, because it’s a moneymaker for them. Harvesting your data and then selling it off to third-party(s). It really is amazing how they get away with this bs. I catch it because, having taken a number of law classes, i’ll be willing to read through a twenty [20] page contract (with the smallest font of course) to find the inconsistencies/ areas where they are trying to pull a “fast one” on you. The average joe might not be willing to go to those lengths. Perhaps a fine should be imposed for blatantly disregarding the DNT? Feel free to post your thoughts.
Anyway, overall, i believe this speaks to a larger issue of where we are in society today. People no longer are looking out for you, rather, how much they can bilk the system and run roughshod over you in the process, which is sad to say. Your privacy is being eroded day by day and it’s happening right under your nose! Wake up people. >:(
Regards,
H.B.
