Free Republic

U.S. regulators rejected an effort on Friday to force Google, Facebook and other popular web sites to honor "Do Not Track" requests from users, in a setback for digital privacy advocates. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dismissed a petition that would have required Internet giants to let consumers opt out of having their online activity tracked. The decision secured a win for Silicon Valley businesses that rely on monetizing reams of personal data. The FCC said it “has been unequivocal in declaring that it has no intent to regulate edge providers,” or companies that provide content and services over...

You can ask YahooYHOO +0.11% not to track you online, but the company will no longer listen. snip Some Privacy advocates protested the move. “Yahoo’s decision to flatly ignore users’ Do Not Track requests is a scandal,” said Peter Eckersley, snip “Everyone needs to understand that his applies not just to Yahoo and Flickr and Tumblr, and to the giant network of ads that Yahoo operates across the Web. Every time you see one of those, it sees you too, and tracks you.” This week EFF launched a new software tool, called Privacy Badger, which does block online tracking for...