Think Tank's Website Rejects Browser Do-Not-Track Requests

alphadogg writes "The website for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) now tells visitors it will not honor their browsers' do-not-track requests as a form of protest against the technology pushed by privacy groups and parts of the U.S. government. The tech-focused think tank on Friday implemented a new website feature that detects whether visitors have do-not-track features enabled in their browsers and tells them their request has been denied. 'Do Not Track is a detrimental policy that undermines the economic foundation of the Internet,' Daniel Castro, senior analyst at the ITIF wrote in a blog post. 'Advertising revenue supports most of the free content, services, and apps available on the Internet.'"

Advertizing and privacy are 2 different things

[GPLHost-Thomas]

We don't deny the right for any site owner to do advertising. If we don't want to see the adds, we can stop going on the site. But what's not normal is tracking visitors across multiple sites and without their consent or knowledge. I recommend everyone to install the ghostery pluggin, just to see how far this has gone (eg: so many sites are displaying trackers from 3rd parties).

Re:That's fine

[couchslug]

"I'll just keep using AdBlock Plus, NoScript, etc."

I'll keep REMINDING OTHERS to use AdBlock Plus, NoScript, etc.

Re:One question:

[MysteriousPreacher]

Does anyone really give a shit what this particular group has to say?

Your elected representatives, who look to outfits like this guidance in turning file sharing in to a crime akin to detonating nail bombs on crowded busses.

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Debate-over-Internet-piracy-legislation-heats-up-2576620.php [sfgate.com]

Reject their rejection by disabling javascript

[Anonymous Coward]

Browsing http://www.itif.org/ [itif.org] with noscript installed or javascript disabled, I don't even see their rejection of my DNT header unless and until I enable javascript for the site.

Re:Bad TFA

[MysteriousPreacher]

While most of us don't have much contact with think tanks and lobbyists, we do certainly see the results of their work. ITIF is very much pushing for stringent IP protections. Think cheerleaders for SOPA/ACTA.

Re:That's fine

[mrmeval]

Adblock allows 'some ads' by default. I'm not recommending it. There's a fork Adblock Edge that is a fork in protest to the 'some ads' by default.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/adblock-edge/ [mozilla.org]

Re:Advertizing and privacy are 2 different things

[klearvue]

"Evidon (Ghostery's owner) is tracking them through Ghostery" - that only happens if you explicitly enable GhostRank option. Don't spread FUD.