Comments on: Why an FTC 'Do Not Track' list is a bad idea

As the Federal Trade Commission begins its two-day meeting about Internet advertising, new suggestions for regulation are surfacing. Here's why some of them may go too far.

[Darryl Snortberry]

Eventually Destroy Internet

It's this protection type of thinking that will eventually destroy the internet. If a person doesn't like to be tracked there are ways to shield yourself if a person takes some time to educate themselves. (Deny cookies, don't install flash or any other addons.) What I hate the most about the internet is knowing one of the greatest mediums for freedom will eventually be destroyed by a socialist anti-capitalist, religious/family friendly, or anti-terrorism group.

[mattumanu]

Privacy Policies not always adhered to...

As a former user of PCpistop, I can attest to this. For years, I recommended them to anyone who wanted to get the most out of their PC, until one day I noticed a "report" they were selling on thier site. The report included data culled from their proprietary pitstop scans, and included install rates for certain typs of software (including P2P software). It turned out they were culling this information from computers they scanned during their "pitstops", even though the privacy policy said nothing of what they were doing. In an interchange on the forum (which included Rob Cheng himself), I notified the entire community of this breach, but the response was lackluster at best. PCpitstop had been breaking their own privacy policy, culling data from millions of computer on what programs were installed on each computer, AND were selling it for 190 dollars a pop on thier website!

My question to Rob Cheng was, "if you did this without revealing what's going on to your users, what's to stop you from doing something more invasive?"

Answer? Nothing whatsover.

This article is a fool's errand. The author doesn't know what he's talking about.

[iBuzz]

Lawyers and governments want this info!

Once databases exist that can identify an individual and show
what web sites they've read, what they've searched for, what
they've written in emails, who they've contacted, etc., it's only a
matter a time before lawyers and governments start issuing
subpoenas for this information. In the U.S., courts can order
anyone, including Google, to turn over information that supports
someone's case.

And it's not just those who are doing something wrong who
need to worry. If you've ever been through a divorce, falsely
accused of something, or had someone try to bully or screw you
out of something, you'll know that lawyers will use everything at
their disposal to build up and support a case against you, even if
their allegations are completely false.

A lesson from life experience: your personal information is very
valuable to you. Don't be so naive as to give it away so freely. It
will be used against you if someone ever has a need to. If your
reaction is that this sounds like paranoia and no one will ever do
something like this to me so I don't have to worry, well, isn't that
just wishful thinking? Let's hope your wishes come true.