Congress Discussing Do Not Track Registry

The US Congress is discussing the possibility of instituting a registry for people who do not want websites to track them, the Washington Post reported.

While privacy advocacy groups support the move, seems Google and others are against it.

"The hearing, which is tentatively set for Dec. 2, is still being coordinated and a full witness list hasn't been formed yet. It will likely focus on several aspects of a bill presented by subcommittee chairman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). Rush has introduced a bill on Internet privacy that he has said would balance business interests with consumer protection," the Washington Post reported.

"Companies such as Google have panned the idea, saying implementing the technology for such a platform would be too difficult." Interestingly, Google allows people to opt out of their tracking, so it is interesting that they think it would be too difficult to implement. Guess they really don't want full opt out - given the tracking that they did even when toolbars were turned off.

Congress is already investigating privacy issues with Google and their streetview efforts.

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