Do-Not-Track Movement is Drawing Advertisers' Fire

nytimes.com

6 points·bgruber··2 comments

The advent of [DNT] threatens the barter system wherein consumers allow sites and third-party ad networks to collect information about their online activities in exchange for open access to maps, e-mail, games, music, social networks and whatnot

This narrative about a "quid-pro-quo" social contact is completely manufactured. All of this <sharing> was part of online culture before the cookie, and in particilar widespread privacy invasion of pixel tracking and the rest. Ie, it's ex-post rationalization by those who have a stake in the outcome.

Was the cookie the <worst> decision ever in the history of the internet? The Barter System? WAT?

Indeed. Even if there was such a contract, who fixed the price for it? In other words: who said that the right price/service in exchange for an incredibly precise audit trail of my behavior is targeted ads or some pretty lame free articles?

I paid my Navigon app, I pay for my Office 365 e-mail, I pay for the music I get, I pay for the local newspaper I read, I pay to access academia papers (i.e. ACM), I pay for a lot of tools many of which on a donor contract.

I don't even have a problem to pay a fee for a social site if I believe it gives me value in exchange.

Let's forge the contract in a different way: you want my data, you offer something in exchange, I decide if that's a good deal for me. If not, I may still decide to give you my data, but you pay.

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