Can FTC "Do not Track" policy stop my Facebook stalkers??

Technology has been a great addition to the Global economy over the past few decades. It has helped ease workload, socializing and most importantly communication. But, this does not mean it has not had a few negative effects. The explosion of social media and its use are widespread in not only our every day lives but also in the every day businesses of almost every industry. Each day, companies in all industries make use of social media in a number of ways to reach consumers to transmit information, support or service. Facebook in particular has come under fire for the way it handles users’ information, including changes to its privacy settings and more recent developments such as the fact that user IDs were being sent to third-party companies. The company decided that it had all rights to release the information that people put on their accounts to online search engines such as Google and Bing. This has been a growing problem, which Federal Trade commission has been busy trying to control.

              

         Less than a month ago, the FTC revealed a framework to Control Consumer Privacy entitled “ Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change”.  The proposals by the regulatory commission ranged from less serious ones such as clearer and more concise policies to more dramatic policies such as the “Do not track” button on websites to prevent data mining and regulate business marketing practices. The proposed framework has three primary components:

• Data Protection: Companies should implement a “privacy by design” approach by implementing privacy protections as a part of their overall business model.
• Consumer Choice/Clear Opt Outs: Companies should allow consumers to choose which data the company collects and for what purpose.
• Education and Disclosure: Companies should make their privacy polices more transparent by stating their privacy statement in layman terms as to not decieve consumers.

This “Do Not Track” policy was initiated to allow Internet users to choose whether their web activity can be monitored.   Although the above strategies were proposed, I believe that the FTC has not done enough to help prevent the data mining on social media sites. The report was issued based on what they feel is slow progress in self-regulation and standardization. Firstly, it says that these guidelines are to be enacted in 2011 but not certain of a date. Secondly, the guidelines seem very abstract; they do not seem strict enough to prevent these social media sites. The FTC provided few details even though its incoming chief technologist Edward Felten said the system would offer a "comprehensive opt-out.” Lastly, I believe it gives the government a backdoor to access people's personal information. “Do Not Track” mechanism could potentially require individuals to surrender more personal information about themselves to companies or the government for purposes of authentication and enforcement of the rule. It would also require a re-architecting of the Internet and the potential regulation of every web browser to ensure compliance.  This will give the FTC and other lawmaker’s far greater control over the Internets architecture.

What are your thoughts on the proposed Do Not Track regulations?  Does this pose a serious threat to online marketers?  Will the average web user see this as a valuable form of privacy protection?

Souces: 
 www.marketingpilgrim.com/.../ftc-online-privacy-report-endorses-do-not-track.html
www.legallysocial.com/.../the-new-ftc-online-privacy-guidelines-will-do-not-track-become-reality
www.consumeradvertisinglawblog.com/.../health-marketing-in-social-media-privacy-consumer-groups-ftc-and-congress-weigh-in-.html