The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published two first drafts - Tracking Preference Expression (DNT) and Tracking Compliance and Scope Specification - for standards that allow users to express preferences about online tracking. With this move, the consortium seeks to address rising concerns about privacy on the Web.
Tracking Preference Expression (DNT) defines mechanisms for users to express cross-site tracking preferences and for sites to indicate whether they honour these preferences.
Tracking Compliance and Scope Specification defines the meaning of a 'Do Not Track' preference and sets out practices for websites to comply with this preference.
These documents are the early work of a broad set of stakeholders in the W3C Tracking Protection Working Group, including browser vendors, content providers, advertisers, search engines, and experts in policy, privacy, and consumer protection. W3C invites review of these early drafts, which are starting points of work to come. W3C expects them to become standards by mid-2012.
The participants in the Tracking Protection Working Group currently include people from 15 W3C members. Several invited experts include representatives from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Watchdog, the German Independent Center for Privacy Protection (ULD) and Leiden University.
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