Out-Law News 3 min. read
04 Oct 2012, 2:32 pm
Earlier this year Microsoft announced that it would automatically impose 'do not track' privacy settings in its soon-to-be-launched Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) browser, effectively meaning that users of the forthcoming new browser would have to change their browser settings in order to enable advertisers to track their behaviour online and serve them with targeted ads.
The move has been criticised by the board of directors at US Association of National Advertisers (ANA), a body that represents major global brands including Coca Cola, Unilever, IBM and Ford. In an open letter to top officials at Microsoft, including the software giant's chief executive Steve Ballmer, ANA said that Microsoft's "shocking" plans puts content providers at risks because they will lose out from advertising revenue.
"We write to renew the request of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) that Microsoft reverse its position regarding the so-called 'do-not-track' default setting for the forthcoming Internet Explorer 10 browser," ANA said in its letter. "We believe that if Microsoft moves forward with this default setting, it will undercut the effectiveness of our members’ advertising and, as a result, drastically damage the online experience by reducing the Internet content and offerings that such advertising supports. This result will harm consumers, hurt competition, and undermine American innovation and leadership in the Internet economy."
"ANA’s Board of Directors is very upset that the choice being made by Microsoft is one that will ultimately threaten to reduce the vast array of free content and services available to consumers. When presented as a default 'on,' by design Microsoft is no longer creating a choice of whether or not data about consumers will be tracked. Rather, Microsoft appears determined to stop the collection of web viewing data. That is unacceptable. The result of such a large percentage of data collection being blocked seriously undermines consumers’ interests by potentially diminishing the robust content and services available over the Internet," it added.
ANA said that its members are "very troubled" by Microsoft's plans. It claimed that US consumer protection regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was against the default 'do not track' position, and that "even consumer advocacy groups" oppose the move. In addition, ANA said that software provider Apache has "designed its software to ignore the 'do-not-track' setting if the browser reaching it is Internet Explorer 10". Apache believe Microsoft's actions are a "deliberate abuse of open standards” that were developed by "a standard setting organisation", according to ANA's letter.
Earlier this year internet standards body the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) said that 'do not track' technology, which stops websites gathering information about users, should not be switched on by default but should require an explicit instruction to begin working.
ANA said that Microsoft's plans could "potentially eliminate the ability to collect web viewing data of up to 43 percent of the browsers used by Americans" – a figure that represents Microsoft's current market share in the web browser market. The group claimed that by automatically blocking user-tracking, Microsoft "threatens to take the information out of the information economy".
"Web viewing data is used to make users’ experience online more relevant via tailored content; leads to continued innovation, which has the potential to offer consumers untold benefits; and is used to support the offering of online products and services at low or no cost," ANA said. "Data also supports robust consumer protections including safety mechanisms that range from fraud detection in financial services to prevention of online threats."
Although Microsoft has said that users will be able to change the 'do not track' setting from its default position "at installation", ANA still claimed that those plans would be "problematic".
"It is clear that a default 'off' setting for consumers to control online data collection strikes the right balance for society as a whole," the group said. "If consumers were presented with the right choice of responsible collection and use of this data in exchange for today’s vast advantages of the Internet, there is no question what the right choice is. That is why policymakers including the Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, the Secretary of Commerce and the President of the United States have publicly and repeatedly recognized the merits of the current system, which provides choice to consumers regarding data collection but not in a manner that will result in cannibalising the Internet."
"Microsoft itself has been a leader in developing the responsible practices subscribed to by the ecosystem for more than a decade. It is time for Microsoft to do the right thing. ANA’s Board of Directors urges Microsoft to revert to this 'opt out' model, which makes sense for companies, consumers, and the Internet economy alike," it said.
ANA has invited Microsoft executives to engage in "immediate dialogue" with it on the 'do not track' issue in advance of the company's launch of IE10.
