Do Not Track

Do Not Track (DNT) is a deprecated non-standard^[1] HTTP header field designed to allow internet users to opt out of tracking by websites—which includes the collection of data regarding a user's activity across multiple distinct contexts, and the retention, use, or sharing of data derived from that activity outside the context in which it occurred.^[2]

The Do Not Track header was originally proposed in 2009^[3] and was adopted by most major browsers within a few years. However, the header failed to find widespread respect among the publishers,^[4] due to the lack of legislation requiring companies to legally respect the DNT header, confusion about the header meaning.^[5] The DNT header was abandoned by standards bodies such as the W3C.^[4] As of 2024, some browsers had removed the header, including Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox.^[6]

In 2020, a coalition of US-based internet companies announced the Global Privacy Control header that succeeds DNT header. The creators hope that this new header will meet the definition of "user-enabled global privacy controls" defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In this case, the new header would be automatically strengthened by existing laws and companies would be required to honor it.