FTC calls out Google's Chrome over Do Not Track

Computerworld - Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz this week singled out Google for not adopting "Do Not Track," the privacy feature that lets consumers opt out of online tracking by Web sites and advertisers.

In an interview Monday with Politico, Leibowitz called out Google for not supporting Do Not Track in its Chrome browser.

Noting that Do Not Track had gathered momentum, Leibowitz said, "Apple just announced they're going to put it in their Safari browser. So that gives you Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla. Really the only holdout -- the only company that hasn't evolved as much as we would like on this -- is Google."

Do Not Track has been promoted by the FTC and by privacy advocates including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), as the best way to help consumers protect their privacy.

The technology requires sites and advertisers to recognize incoming requests from browsers as an opt-out demand by the user. The information is transmitted as part of the HTTP header.

As Leibowitz said, Microsoft and Mozilla have added Do Not Track header support to their Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) and Firefox 4 browsers. While Apple hasn't confirmed that the next version of Safari will include Do Not Track, developers have reported finding the feature in early editions bundled with Mac OS X 10.7, aka "Lion," the upgrade slated to ship this summer.

That leaves Google's Chrome and Opera's browser on the outside. But neither plans to implement Do Not Track anytime soon.

"Such features could lead to better privacy but potentially contribute to a false sense of security," said Thomas Ford, a spokesman for Opera. "There are also some complications that arise when Web sites do not honor the Do Not Track feature. As such, we are exploring the area but have yet to make any announcements."

Chrome has its own ideas about privacy, and also won't commit to Do Not Track.

"We continue to offer the Keep My Opt-Outs plug-in for Chrome ... which already works to permanently opt users out of most ad profiling," a Google spokesman said in an email reply to questions.

The Keep My Opt-Outs plug-in blocks targeted ads produced by about 60 companies and ad networks that hew to self-regulation efforts by the online advertising industry. Currently available only for Chrome, Google has said it will release similar tools for Firefox and IE "fairly soon."

Google declined to comment on whether it is considering adding Do Not Track header support to Chrome, but seemingly left the door ajar. "We're encouraged that the standards bodies are working on these different header approaches, and will continue to be involved closely," the spokesman said.

On Tuesday, Google also declined to comment on Leibowitz's calling Chrome the Do Not Track holdout.