Shaun Nichols reports that although EFF touts the new Do Not Track standard, they admit that it suffers from the same fatal defect as its previous iteration: it’s voluntary:
Site operators and advertisers have to enable their pages to recognize and respect the do-not-track policy. They do this by inserting code into their pages to check for browsers who have Do Not Track turned on.
This creates a major hole, as the advertising and tracking sites that perform most of the unwanted snooping on user browsing habits are the ones who are least likely to actually opt in to the Do Not Track system.
The EFF says as much in its FAQ file, admitting that those who are doing the unwanted tracking probably could not care less about Do Not Track preferences.
“This policy is not intended to be compatible with business practices that involve the non-consensual collection of Internet users’ reading habits or online activities,” the EFF said.
Read more on The Register.