Some Online Tracking Firms To Offer Opt-Out, Reveal What They Know

Wall Street Journal:

Seeking to head off escalating scrutiny over Internet privacy, a group of online tracking rivals are building a service that lets consumers see what information those companies know about them.

The project is the first of its kind in the fast-growing business of tracking Internet users and selling personal details about their lives. Called the Open Data Partnership, it will allow consumers to edit the interests, demographics and other profile information collected about them. It also will allow people to choose to not be tracked at all.

When the service launches in January, users will be able to see information about them from eight data and tracking firms, including BlueKai Inc., Lotame Solutions Inc. and eXelate Inc.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[Panoramic]

07:07 AM on 12/04/2010

Come again? Why is online tracking legal? Because it mirrors how are buying habits and credit worthiness is tracked through our long established snail mail system. And the rest of the world gawks at American's individual and collective struggle with debt. This is yet another example of how our system makes it so. May we put this issue to a vote? Politicians, ask your citizens if we should have to "opt out" of tracking or "opt in," the answer will be of no surprise, the majority of us prize privacy and will take the latter.

[ChiGuy]

12:10 PM on 12/03/2010

Back in the mid-90s, when I was much more distracted and not paying a whole lot of attention to these kinds of things, one day I decided to look into my cookie file. I was absolutely stunned to see that there were more than 10,000 cookies stored on my hard drive! On that day, I deleted every cookie in the file.

Since then, I keep the Cookie file icon on my desktop and after each online session, except for a few which allow me to go to frequently visited sites without having to sign-in, I clear the file of all cookies.

I know that they have already compiled a great deal of info on me. But at least I now slow them from gaining much new information.

Just my little way to fight back a bit.

[jsgaetano]

11:23 AM on 12/03/2010

This should be opt-in only.

[Dusty Rhodes]

11:12 AM on 12/03/2010

if you use firefox to surf, use ghostery add-on, you wont be tracked by anyone anymore.....

[mherrera]

10:44 AM on 12/03/2010

In the future, everyone will be intimately probed for fifteen minutes.

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

11:37 AM on 12/03/2010

I hope they at least buy us dinner first or give us cab fare after.

[tao53nyc]

10:39 AM on 12/03/2010

This underscores the key problem with internet shopping and marketing: It doesn't work like the Real World. How would you feel if, when walking into a major department store, someone approached you with a smile and a clipboard, asking a whole lot of intrusive questions, beginning with your name, address, income, etc. etc. so they "could improve your shopping experience"? Most of us would bolt for the exit. So why do we tolerate this nonsense on the web?

BNE1.com is testing a new solution to this problem by allowing people to "profile themselves" and control their own destiny. It's also great for online stores, as they get the customer data they want without being overly intrusive or setting a cookie. We're in alpha now. You're invited to check it out and tell us what you think.

[Elliot MatterofOpinion]

10:00 AM on 12/03/2010

I just took a really cool survey about internet safety and data collection companies. You can add your own questions and see what others have to say. Give it a try.
http://survey.matterofopinion.com/survey.jsp?surveyid=50

[analisethis]

09:58 AM on 12/03/2010

New main

[trollslayer69]

10:06 AM on 12/03/2010

on lock down

[RattleCat]

09:54 AM on 12/03/2010

For a limited time, if you go to www.northpole.com, you'll get christmas cookies.

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

11:38 AM on 12/03/2010

mmm....cookies....

[Midnightrain]

09:54 AM on 12/03/2010

Soon we'll all be on TV.

[For Fathers]

09:55 AM on 12/03/2010

We are now. Look up.

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

11:38 AM on 12/03/2010

Hey, who doesn't wanna look at me, right?


Right?


Hello?...


(crickets chirping)

[For Fathers]

09:53 AM on 12/03/2010

It seems the working people and the used to be working people could care less if their every move is being monitored.Probably because they have nothing to hide.
Conversely the criminally insane prefer total seclusion.

[Mike Bechtel]

09:51 AM on 12/03/2010

BNE1 is a service that is tackling this pretty nicely. It lets you "profile yourself" by sharing a set of personal descriptors that you personally control. That way the marketers can target content to "who you say you are" without actually having to know "who you really are."

[KewlJoJo]

09:49 AM on 12/03/2010

Randism is Marxism turned upside down. Marx was an id!ot. So what does that make Rand? An upside down id!ot.

[Decorina]

09:57 AM on 12/03/2010

Me likey. Fanned.

[roadwarrior09]

10:22 AM on 12/03/2010

that was very clever. Did your momma help you write that one?

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

11:40 AM on 12/03/2010

Wow. A "Your momma" joke. That's creative and original. You should write for television. No, seriously. That was the funniest thing I've ever read in my life. You are my hero cause you are so clever and original. Wow.

[drbillybob]

09:47 AM on 12/03/2010

I really don't care what info is shared ... as long as I delete my recent search history before my wifey finds my Asian p0rrn browsing ...

[RattleCat]

09:49 AM on 12/03/2010

See, Republicans will outsource anything.

[ainfl]

09:49 AM on 12/03/2010

I gotta laugh at that one, BB.

[splashy]

09:47 AM on 12/03/2010

I opt out every time I delete the tracking cookies, and when I run Ghostery in FireFox.

But, since I didn't know about it before, I would like to delete everything they have on me.