CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Abine, Inc., The Online Privacy Company, announced the availability of Do Not Track Plus (DNT+), a free add-on giving consumers a single way to cover multiple proposed Do Not Track standards.
“Consumers shouldn’t have to fret about what Do Not Track means. Like Do Not Call, the language is clear,” said Andrew Sudbury, Abine co-founder. “If a user opts to protect their privacy by saying don’t track me online, then that should work as they expect - whether using today’s technologies or tomorrow’s proposed standards.”
Over the past few months, Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft have each announced different approaches to online privacy protection including a Do Not Track standard, advertising opt-outs, and tracking protection for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 9.
DNT+ fuses together these kinds of privacy protections and will give users one place to go that supports recent efforts from Mozilla, Microsoft, Google, the IETF, W3C, Stanford, the Federal Trade Commission and Commerce Department and will include:
• Mozilla / Stanford’s “Do Not Track” header.
• Microsoft’s Tracker Protection List “TPL” standard.
• Google’s Keep My Opt Out (and the NAI / TACO’s) persistent opt-out cookies.
It also extends the Do Not Track standard by letting users selectively send a Do Not Track header to individual websites, rather than the basic "on" / "off" controls that Mozilla includes with Firefox 4.0.
Consumers can get Do Not Track Plus now and:
• Use something that works today to prevent online tracking,
• Support the proposed Do Not Track header standard,
• Have fine-tuned control to permit tracking by trusted web sites and advertisers
DNT+ includes Tracking Protection functionality compatible with the mechanism introduced by Microsoft in Internet Explorer 9. Users of Abine's DNT+ can subscribe to publicly available Tracking Protection Lists, which will stop their browser from connecting to servers used by many online tracking companies.
DNT+ empowers users today, and allows all parties, including ad-networks like Blue Kai, Omniture, Doubleclick and others who may choose to comply with such standards, to enjoy better communication and to enable greater control over the economically important online marketing and advertising Industry:
“We strongly believe people will go out of their way to support sites and businesses that treat them well but will also go out of their way to avoid businesses that annoy them or breach their trust,” said Sudbury.
The FTC and Commerce Department have repeatedly called for the market to innovate and self-regulate to provide consumers online privacy protection. DNT+ empowers millions of users who feel there is too much information about their browsing habits being secretly gathered and then shared among advertisers, marketers, and email spammers. DNT+ works today to protect consumer privacy and supports different standards across multiple browsers.
Abine plans to eventually offer Do Not Track Plus on all major browser platforms. Unfortunately, Google Chrome does not currently permit developers to set the Do Not Track header.
Users who combine DNT+ with the full PrivacySuite or other privacy tools from third parties that help them keep their email, cell phone, IP, home address, and credit cards away from online databases, can truly regain control of their online privacy, while still allowing advertisers to advertise to them.
About Abine: Abine, Inc. The Online Privacy Company, is the leading provider of online privacy solutions for consumers. Abine's products and services allow regular people to regain control over their personal information while continuing to browse, interact, and shop online.