Re: DNT and hearing held yesterday by US Senate Commerce Committee

And in case you missed it
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/235379-rockefeller-says-big-tech-companies-acting-like-standard-oil


Rockefeller' "constructive dialogue" with me starts at about 61 minutes in.

On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 4:52 PM, Kevin Kiley <kevin.kiley@3pmobile.com>wrote:

>  FYI: Report on yesterday's meeting about DNT and Privacy held in
> Washington by the US Senate Commerce Committee...****
>
> ** **
>
>
> http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/185242/senate-commerce-committee-now-hearing-testimony-on-do-not-track-standard/
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> The article above contains a link to the live webcast ( now archived ) of
> the full US Senate Committee meeting.****
>
> ** **
>
>
> http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Hearings&ContentRecord_id=aa018084-ceea-472c-af63-97d7f44fac80
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> NOTE: The archived video of the meeting just says 'The meeting begins in a
> moment' ****
>
> for 19 minutes and 49 seconds at the beginning of the video.****
>
> ** **
>
> The Meeting itself starts at +19:50 into the video file.****
>
> ** **
>
> Majority Statement****
>
> ** **
>
> Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV****
>
> U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation****
>
> ** **
>
> Witness Panel 1 ( Opening statements were made in this order... )****
>
> ** **
>
> Mr. Bob Liodice ( Speaks at +26:05 )****
>
> President and CEO****
>
> Association of National Advertisers****
>
> PDF of his testimony...****
>
>
> http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=c1370f16-0d8f-46f4-9491-ad3570e9d335
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Mr. Alex Fowler ( Speaks at +31:48 - Excerpts included below )****
>
> Global Privacy and Policy Leader****
>
> Mozilla****
>
> PDF of his testimony...****
>
>
> http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=7f4cea58-80d9-4b8d-abf9-be05da130bf6
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Mr. Peter Swire ( Speaks at +38:25 )****
>
> C. William O'Neill Professor of Law****
>
> The Ohio State University****
>
> PDF of his testimony...****
>
>
> http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=4c73aa3c-5626-42d6-b6fe-31e3ec6ad1ca
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Mr. Berin Szoka ( Speaks at +43:15 )****
>
> President****
>
> TechFreedom****
>
> PDF of his testimony...****
>
>
> http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=2c68df4c-36f2-463f-867e-e00fbc37161b
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Free-range questions from the Senate panel begin at +48:50.****
>
> ** **
>
> Excerpts ( regarding DNT and the W3C effort ) from Mr. Alex Fowler's
> (Mozilla)****
>
> opening statements to the Committee...****
>
> ** **
>
> ** 45 million FireFox users are already sending/using the 'DNT' header.***
> *
>
> ** **
>
> Mr. Alex Fowler****
>
> Global Privacy and Policy Leader****
>
> Mozilla****
>
> PDF of his testimony...****
>
>
> http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=7f4cea58-80d9-4b8d-abf9-be05da130bf6
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> [snip]****
>
> ** **
>
> Mozilla is a global community of people who have been working together
> since 1998 to build a better Internet.****
>
> As an independent organization, we are dedicated to promoting openness,
> innovation, and opportunity online.****
>
> Mozilla does not own or operate a search or advertising business.****
>
> Our mission is to pursue the interests of users, developers and the Web as
> a whole. ****
>
> Mozilla and its contributors advance our goals by making free, open source
> technologies for consumers and developers that reflect these values.****
>
> Our most popular product is the Firefox Web browser used by more than 500
> million people worldwide.****
>
> As a core principle, we believe that the Internet, as the most significant
> social and technological development of our time, is a precious public
> resource that must be improved and protected.****
>
> ** **
>
> Mozilla was the first browser to implement Do Not Track in March 2011
> inspired by innovations from privacy and security researchers Christopher
> Soghoian and Dan Kaminsky.****
>
> ** **
>
> When we first announced it, the ad industry was critical and Microsoft
> publicly ridiculed the feature, but the FTC strongly supported it and our
> users wanted it. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Today 9% of our users ( 45 million users ) have turned on DNT in the
> desktop version of Firefox and 18% have turned on DNT in the mobile version.
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Microsoft has announced it will ship IE with DNT turned on by default in
> Internet Explorer 10, and soon it will be possible for users to turn on DNT
> in all major browsers.****
>
> Numerous companies already honor the DNT signal, including social networks
> like Twitter, publishers like the Associated Press, and mobile advertisers
> like Jumptap, AdTruth, and more are on the way.****
>
> We are building DNT into Thunderbird, our email client, and our mobile
> operating system, code named Boot2Gecko, where the user's DNT signal will
> be available to every app on the device. ****
>
> In addition to our engineering contributions, a Mozilla engineer submitted
> the first standards proposal for Do Not Track, and a member of our
> community is co-chair of the W3C standards effort.****
>
> ** **
>
> Do Not Track is a simple, digital signal sent by the user via the browser
> to Web sites. ****
>
> ** **
>
> As a signal, Do Not Track does not enforce, break, control, disable or
> impair any online tracking or personalization technology.****
>
> It is a signal that is sent along with Internet traffic, indicating that
> the user sitting behind the keyboard would like their privacy to be
> respected more strongly than might otherwise be the case. ****
>
> ** **
>
> To make it effective, the recipients ( Web sites and ad networks ) must
> breathe life into the signal by honoring the user's intent. ****
>
> ** **
>
> The crucial questions therefore become:****
>
> ** **
>
> What does the user intend by the DNT signal?****
>
> What should a site do when it receives this signal?****
>
> ** **
>
> These questions are the subject of a consensus driven multi-stakeholder
> effort currently underway at the W3C, as I mentioned a moment ago. ****
>
> The Do Not Track working group is chartered to develop a robust
> self-regulatory framework for user choice and control on the Web.****
>
> While the group has agreement on most of the technical requirements of the
> protocol, there are still two competing views on what DNT should mean.****
>
> One is that DNT means what it says, no 3rd party tracking of users whether
> its targeted ads or for other purposes.****
>
> ** **
>
> The other position is that DNT means no targeting, but tracking and
> collection are still acceptable. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Currently, the working group is perusing a middle ground. ** **
>
> ** **
>
> The participants are collaborating in an open process to determine both
> the technical and compliance requirements for a Do Not Track system.****
>
> ** **
>
> Despite dialogue that could sometimes be characterized as atypically
> aggressive (for standards working ****
>
> groups) and even personal at times, the process has been open,
> transparent, and inclusive.****
>
> ** **
>
> The group consists of over 35 leading companies, 21 including advertisers,
> publishers, and Internet ****
>
> companies, together with consumer advocates, industry trade associations,
> academics from the US ****
>
> and Europe, and independent experts. ****
>
> ** **
>
> The discussions have been productive so far.****
>
> ** **
>
> The group is committed to following a consensus-based approach to achieve
> a protocol that everyone can live with. ****
>
> ** **
>
> As a member of the W3C group, we remain optimistic that the process will
> produce a meaningful standard that****
>
> ultimately provides people with more choice and control related to
> targeted ads and user tracking by 3rd parties. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Together with the Administration’s multi-stakeholder process to develop a
> code of conduct that promotes****
>
> transparent disclosures to consumers concerning mobile apps’ treatment of
> personal data, we are hopeful that ****
>
> a more representative cadre of concerns will produce effective
> self-­‐regulatory practices without the need for legislation.. ****
>
> ** **
>
> However in the event that an open, multi-­stakeholder process is not
> successful it may be necessary to explore ****
>
> regulatory measures****
>
> ** **
>
> [/snip]****
>
> ** **
>



-- 
Berin Szoka | President, TechFreedom
bszoka@techfreedom.org | @BerinSzoka