Oggi sul WSJ c’è un pezzo di Julia Angwin che descrive l’accordo di massima tra alcuni dei giganti di Internet – Google su tutti – per dare il via libera su tutti i browser a un “do-no-track button” che funzioni davvero. Il problema è che ci sono ancora troppe falle e la privacy rimane a rischio.
The new do-not-track button isn’t going to stop all Web tracking. The companies have agreed to stop using the data about people’s Web browsing habits to customize ads, and have agreed not to use the data for employment, credit, health-care or insurance purposes. But the data can still be used for some purposes such as “market research” and “product development” and can still be obtained by law enforcement officers. The do-not-track button also wouldn’t block companies such as Facebook Inc. from tracking their members through “Like” buttons and other functions.
Insomma è un po’ come l’autoriforma degli ordini. O la liberalizzazione delle licenze dei taxi. E quindi le perplessità non mancano. Anche alla Casa Bianca.
White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Daniel Weitzner said the do-not-track option should clear up confusion among consumers who “think they are expressing a preference and it ends up, for a set of technical reasons, that they are not.” Some critics said the industry’s move could throw a wrench in a separate year-long effort by the World Wide Web consortium to set an international standard for do-not-track. But Mr. Ingis said he hopes the consortium could “build off of” the industry’s approach.
Wall Street Journal