Senator Rockefeller’s ‘Do Not Track’ Campaign

By Elisa Rivero

“Online companies are collecting massive amounts of information, often without consumers’ knowledge or consent…My bill gives consumers the opportunity to simply say ‘no thank you’ to anyone and everyone collecting their online information. Period.”

— Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va.

ResponsiveAds’ insight:
Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia is re-introducing the Do Not Track Act, which would mandate online companies to ask consumers if they want to opt-out of tracking of online activities, according to a report on Adweek.com. We couldn’t agree more with the senator.

“Online companies are collecting massive amounts of information, often without consumers’ knowledge or consent … My bill gives consumers the opportunity to simply say ‘no thank you’ to anyone and everyone collecting their online information. Period,” Rockefeller said in a statement.

The Adweek article says that since Rockefeller originally introduced the bill in 2011, most of the advertising industry has decided itself to provide the option for consumers to opt-out of receiving advertisements. However, Rockefeller said that companies can’t be trusted.

Even though 90 percent of the advertising industry is already following these rules, we think Rockefeller’s bill is a necessity in order to crack down on the remaining 10 percent.

It is our belief that website visitors should have complete control over which online advertisements they want to receive.

When we look into our crystal ball, we see a future where free digital subscriptions will let visitors receive responsive ads with coupons, if they wish. However, it is critical that they are given the choice to opt-out. Even if online companies did send information to website visitors they didn’t want, the consumers wouldn’t likely read it anyway.

Our team has extensive experience with maps and location-based services, and one of the many things we have learned is that the user needs to always be in control.

Always.

See on www.adweek.com