Mozilla’s do-not-track feature in a new browser is a piece of bullsh*t

A new privacy feature under development by Mozilla that is aimed at enabling users to opt out of online tracking has a significant flaw that makes it more than useless. As the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recognized that tracking is a privacy concern for Web-surfing citizens and has proposed implementation of some sort of do-not-track framework similar to the do-not-call lists that are supposed to keep annoying telemarketers from calling you, many web browser makers included a privacy feature.

For instance Internet Explorer 9 enables users to restrict tracking but it requires a lot of manual work to set specific privacy mode. Mozilla is claimed to have outdone Microsoft in its new Firefox browser.

A blog post from Mozilla's head of privacy explains, "The advantages to the header technique are that it is less complex and simple to locate and use, it is more persistent than cookie-based solutions, and it doesn't rely on user's finding and loading lists of ad networks and advertisers to work," adding, "We're not the only ones who think this approach makes sense. The FTC calls for a "more uniform and comprehensive consumer choice mechanism for online behavioral advertising."

On the other hand, the blog post continues: "The challenge with adding this to the header is that it requires both browsers and sites to implement it to be fully effective." It means that you can set the do-not-track opt out feature in your Firefox browser all you like, but if the Web sites that are doing the tracking choose to ignore Mozilla's do-not-track header it won't do any good.