Re: Third-Party Web Tracking: Policy and Technology Paper outlining harms of tracking

On 10/11/12 9:10 PM, Mike Zaneis wrote:
> Walter,
> 
> Please revisit the website you provided and you will see that it is
> both ad supported and demonstrates exactly how users receive greater
> transparency and have more control today than they did a decade ago.
> The ad on the site displays one of the Trillion+ AdChoices icons that
> deliver transparency to consumers every single month here in the
> United States.  In addition, more than 2 million Americans have
> exercised choice through the DAA opt out page over the past year.
> Therefore, I have to respectfully disagree with your conclusions.

Dear Mike,

I do not see what these icons (which are not displayed in my particular
UA) bring to the table. Especially not after visiting the AdChoices
website. If anything it reeks of window dressing.

Moreover, I believe we are in the process of ironing out a standard. A
standard that is supposed to prove that industry can self-regulate as
far as the USA is concerned, but also to prove that industry is willing
to become in compliance with EU legislation.

Having a conversation about whether there is any harm in tracking is
hardly a ringing endorsement of industry's good faith. That horse has
left the barn a while ago. The only reason I am willing to expend time
and energy on this is that I believe it is of mutual benefit of both
individual citizens and industry to get to a meaningful standard as soon
as possible. Dragging this out any further will only mean further
infractions of people's privacy in the short term and in the long term
endangering the fundamentals of industry because of a legislative
backlash. So I am happy to clear up any misunderstandings there may be
on the 'why' because that may help us along on our, I hope mutual,
goals. I am not happy to have the 'why' of this process being questioned
because it implies a lack of commitment towards creating a meaningful
and technically sound standard.

Regards,

 Walter

Received on Thursday, 11 October 2012 19:42:49 UTC