Thank you for visiting AllaboutDNT.com. Future of Privacy Forum launched this website in 2013 to provide information on how web browsers can express a user’s preference for tracking using Do Not Track (DNT).

DNT is a technical specification designed to help users express their preferences about online tracking. It is a set of rules that help your web browser tell websites if you don’t want your online activities to be tracked, including a simple way for users to set this preference and for websites to communicate back about whether they will respect your choice. The specific rules were developed in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an organization dedicated to creating a universal standard that streamlines web protocols and practices. However, the efforts led by the W3C did not result in a W3C Recommendation. As a result of the lack of consensus on how companies should operationalize the DNT preference, most sites do not respond to DNT as a consumer’s choice not to be tracked. 

Legislative developments in California and other states have replaced aspects of DNT, leading to the development of the Global Privacy Control (GPC), an opt-out signal to websites, informing them that the user does not want their personal information sold as defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Similarly, the California Data Deletion Act (SB362) allows California residents to have their personal information deleted by all registered data brokers in the state. Meanwhile, California’s Do Not Track Law (AB370) still requires most commercial websites to disclose whether and how they respect Do Not Track signals.

We welcome you to visit fpf.org/adtech for more resources and information on advertising technology and other consumer privacy topics.