Submission Number: 00040 

Received: 12/2/2010 12:59:21 PM
Commenter: Chris Sundt
Organization: 
State: Outside the United States
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Initiative: A Preliminary FTC Staff Report on "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers"
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
I strongly support the concepts behind this proposal. However, I am seriously concerned at the idea that a "Do Not Track" mechanism is enabled by some form of cookie on the user's browser. As a security consultant I always recommend that people delete all cookies for security reasons when closing their browser. The recent UK BT/Phorm trial used such a mechanism and I found it tedious to have to opt-out every time I loaded my browser. The increasing use of "persistent" cookies - often installed without the knowledge of the user - is causing significant problems and exposing users to unknowing profiling by unscrupulous companies. A more permanent mechanism needs to be created that is visible to the user - such as an explicit plugin or addon to the browser that the user is asked to install explicitly. Regards. Chris Sundt