Do Not Track Browser Features Still Mostly Ignored By Users: Firefox

news.consumerreports.org:

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission suggested that consumers needed a way to tell online advertisers to bug off and not to follow their every online move. And Microsoft and Mozilla built Do Not Track tools into Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4, respectively. The problem? Very few online surfers are using those privacy features.

Read the whole story: news.consumerreports.org

Comments

[Thabor]

12:56 AM on 05/27/2011

Even if you could find it the feature is worthless. Having to opt out and rely on advertisers good will not to track you just means you are making yourself even easier to distinguish from the rest of the crowd.

[Kache]

12:02 PM on 05/26/2011

If you're really that paranoid and want to go back to Web 0.5 it's real easy. Just install and use Netscape 2.
http://browsers.evolt.org/?navigator/32bit

[Counterglow]

09:07 AM on 05/26/2011

The Do Not Track feature is only available in Firefox 4, which is still as full of bugs as a Republican fundam.entalcase revival meeting. Also, if you use Adblock Plus, SpywareBlaster and NoScript, you probably don't need it.

[SilentSolidarity]

03:31 AM on 05/26/2011

Yeah, but was Microsoft and Firefox advertising for that. You won't find a single word about that on their websites. Unless you really want to find it.

[Kache]

01:26 AM on 05/26/2011

Months ago I needed to buy a Mac Mini. So I went to ebay and added one to my watch list. I then went to amazon and added one to my wish list. I then watched the ads that appeared everywhere I went until I found exactly the one I needed at the price I expected. This month I wanted to buy a riding lawn mower, so I found ones that had features I wanted at both sites, added them to the lists and let the global brain bring me contenders. That exposed a brand I would not have considered and I bought it be cause it was exactly what I wanted.

I expect my internet to work for like that.

[maxben]

07:13 AM on 05/26/2011

Good for you, I don't. I have never and will never purchase over the Internet. I also don't use credit cards out of a personal disgust with credit in general.
I would love to turn it on, but I didn't even know where and kept forgetting even after reading about it a little while back.
So there we are, we are two sides of a scale and that's why an option is necessary and that option must be easy to find.

[Epistemon]

11:20 PM on 05/26/2011

This is brilliant. I hadn't thought about how to actually use this to my benefit. Unlike maxben below, I buy everything I possibly can off the internet and use credit cards like it was a religion.

Seriously, I will be looking into how to get the information superhighway to do my shopping for me.

[Kache]

01:42 PM on 05/27/2011

I discovered it quite by accident when I was looking for a Windows 7 tablet. I never would have thought to look for what I ended up buying from an ad that followed me around begging for my attention.

If maxben thinks buying off the internet is foolish then I'd like to know how he thinks that the internet accounts for more contribution to GDP than the agriculture or energy sectors.

[Tim Chambers]

09:32 PM on 05/25/2011

But this is -- in part because the whole "Do Not Track" issue is still forming... good to have the feature baked in early and as the DNT effort grows users will discover it....

[cabinetmaniac]

03:48 PM on 05/25/2011

I use Firefox with Ghostery to block trackers.

Works like a charm.

I turned on the "Do not track" feature when it became available.

It seems as though I am still being tracked since Ghostery is blocking seven trackers on this page right now.

If the "Do not track" feature actually worked then Ghostery would be redundant.

☮

[cabinetmaniac]

03:53 PM on 05/25/2011

BTW in Firefox 4 the "Do not track" feature is located in the Advance Options window.

Firefox >Options>Advanced

☮

[plan9]

08:44 PM on 05/25/2011

Thanks, from a cabinet user, organic consumer, progressive lay about.

[JannielB]

11:14 PM on 05/25/2011

Thanks for the tip...just installed Ghostery and as you said, even with the do not track turned in Firefox, there are still lots of trackers showing in the blocked bubble thingy.

[cabinetmaniac]

08:20 AM on 05/26/2011

The three essential add-ons for FF in my opinion are Ghostery which blocks trackers, NoScript which blocks scripts, and AdBlockPlus which blocks ads.

The NoScript takes a little effort but the others run with very little input.

It is amazing how much faster a page will load without all that extra code being run.

It is also a much more pleasurable experience without all the added distractions.

☮

[lonesometx]

02:37 PM on 05/25/2011

I need help from the tech community.

When I access Huffpo for the first time each day or after a reboot I get an ad for google chrome that I have to close before I can proceed.

It's driving me nuts!!

I've searched the internet in vain and disabled google automatic updates and disabled plug ins. I searched my registry for "chrome" and didn't find anything.

It is not an option to change browers, I'm stuck w/ IE. So if anyone can help I'd appreciate it. I don't know where else to turn. Thanks.

[Kache]

12:54 AM on 05/26/2011

Just install Chrome, access HP once, and never use it again. If you have it installed neither Google or HP will invade your privacy again over the issue. Chrome is a pretty harmless virus if you just don't use it and leave it sleeping.

[maxben]

07:15 AM on 05/26/2011

"Just stall Chrome"? Really? I hope you are being sarcastic.

[interlude]

08:27 AM on 05/26/2011

Check 'Tools:Manage Add ons'. See if you really want all that are there. Disable the ones you're not sure about. You can always re-enable them. To get rid of any permanently, uninstall in 'Start:Control Panel:Programs and Features'. A lot of 'free' app makers are paid to various install toolbars along with their apps. The wording to not install these toolbars can be misleading.

It would be interesting if this happens in Firefox. It can be installed in addition to, not instead of, IE.

Assuming you start IE via a shortcut, check 'Properties:Shortcut:Target' for the actual executable and parameters.

Also check 'Start:All Programs:Startup' for stuff that shouldn't be there.

[lonesometx]

09:58 AM on 05/26/2011

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try tonight.

I appreciate your time and the fact that you gave me real advice, not a smart alec flame.

A tip of the lonesometx Stetson to you.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

02:33 PM on 05/25/2011

Mine are turned off.


Why are the police knocking at my door...?

[Grada3784]

01:47 PM on 05/25/2011

Maybe because they can't find it, as I just couldn't?

[Grada3784]

01:56 PM on 05/25/2011

Found it, but it was not a very intuitive location.

[Kenz300]

09:37 AM on 05/25/2011

Do not Track should be the default ...... You should need to opt in if you want to be tracked.

[cynicalmatt]

09:25 AM on 05/25/2011

People don't turn it on because honestly who cares. So advertisers know what I like, so what.

[stupidllama]

02:29 PM on 05/25/2011

seriously, they also will know your locations, addresses, phone numbers email addys, etc. The issue isnt that whatever companies are using the info per se, but rather that they have proven time and again that they cannot protect your data. Think about how your bank account, loan accounts any accounts are protected, what are your "security questions" mothers maiden name, high school, name of first pet etc etc. When your personal information falls into the hand of the wrong people, and those people use that information to access the parts of your life that you dont want them too. But you know, who cares right?

[Silverwolf72]

03:00 PM on 05/25/2011

Every hack I have heard of was at the main site and would not matter what your password was they would still get all your info.

[maxben]

07:16 AM on 05/26/2011

I care and I didnt know where it was, now I'm going off to look.
Just because you don't does not mean others don't, and it makes far more sense that people just don't know where to find it because it really is in an unintuitive place.

[SuperBenFranklin]

09:09 AM on 05/25/2011

It should be ON by default.

[DJlaysitup]

02:57 AM on 05/25/2011

Probably the dumbest O.T. question of the night.

If I buy a Wifi-ready TV and just plug it in (in Atlanta)..can I watch Netflix?

Without doing anything else?

[L3p3rm3ss14h]

06:21 AM on 05/25/2011

Well don't take my answer as gospel or anything, seeing as how I don't have one of them newfangled wifi teevees, but I would imagine you'd have to connect it to a router. Just because it says "Wifi ready" doesn't mean it can access the internet all by itself, it just means it has the ability to wirelessly connect to a router that is itself connected to the net.

Probably.

[Oldbull 56]

08:54 AM on 05/25/2011

My Samsung which is connected via ethernet to my router runs Netflix just fine, but it does require you to already have a Netflix account. I haven't tried it wirelessly though. Although I'm in Canada, I'm sure it would be the same there. I would ensure that the TV you get says you get Netflix on the box. Many customers up here have found that their TV's or DVD players do not get Netflix even though the TV box says it can, I'm sure it's a problem with Canadian Netflix vs American Netflix.

[Oldbull 56]

08:50 AM on 05/25/2011

My Samsung TV is hooked up to the internet, it requires you to already have a Netflix Account. It works just fine, I haven't tried it wirelessly though.

[Acert]

10:12 PM on 05/24/2011

Maybe this is because the do not track feature only tells the company that someone doesn't want to be tracked; it doesn't stop them (or even make it harder) from tracking that person anyway. If it was that easy, legalized spyware firms wouldn't be constantly trying to circumvent people's efforts to delete and block tracking cookies.