The draft standards consist of two documents with guidelines to enable users to express preferences about online tracking, W3C explained in a statement.
The first, Tracking Preference Expression, defines mechanisms for users to express cross-site tracking preferences and for sites to indicate whether they honor these preferences.
The second, Tracking Compliance and Scope Specification, defines the meaning of a Do Not Track preference and sets out practices for websites to comply with this preference. Do Not Track refers to providing consumers the option to opt out of having their online activity tracked by advertisers.
These documents are the product of the W3C Tracking Protection Working Group, which includes browser vendors, content providers, advertisers, search engines, and experts in policy, privacy, and consumer protection.
The participants in the Tracking Protection Working Group include W3C member representatives from the following organizations: Adobe Systems, Apple, Center for Democracy and Technology, Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, Google, IBM, Mozilla Foundation, Microsoft, Opera Software, Stanford University, Nielsen Company, TRUSTe, and Yahoo. Several invited experts include representatives from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Watchdog, the German Independent Center for Privacy Protection, and Leiden University.
W3C is seeking comments on the draft documents; the consortium expects them to become standards by mid-2012.