Yahoo ends support for do-not-track

Yahoo has stopped supporting the do not track feature found in many browsers. According to the American internet company, do-not-track has never become a widely supported standard. Yahoo now wants to offer a ‘personalized user experience’.

Despite broad browser support, do-not-track has not yet become a unified standard, claims Yahoo; Negotiations with standards consortium W3C, in which parties such as Google and Microsoft are also involved, are not going smoothly and a first draft was only drawn up in February to arrive at a standard.

For Yahoo, the process is taking too long. The company has announced that it is ceasing its do-not-track support, partly because the privacy setting has not become a widely supported standard. From now on, the company wants to offer a ‘personalized user experience’. To do this, an internet user must adjust the desired privacy settings on the Yahoo website.

Yahoo said it was one of the first major parties to recognize and respect the do-not-track attitude. Several browsers also support the privacy option, including Internet Explorer 9 and higher, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. Do-not-track is an extension of the http header in which an internet user can indicate to a website that he does not appreciate tracking activities, for example by placing cookies.