Stanford CIS

Minor Updates to the Do Not Track Header

By Jonathan Mayer on

We're pleased to announce we're beginning work on an IETF Internet-Draft for the Do Not Track header.  We look forward to incorporating broad feedback.

In anticipation of the first version of the Internet-Draft, we're making a few minor updates to the header.  The reference implementations at DoNotTrack.Us will be revised shortly.

Dropping "X-"
Since Do Not Track is entering a standardization process, convention dictates dropping the prefix "X-".

Abbreviating "DNT"
In keeping with header naming best practices, and to conserve network resources, we're shortening the name.

Adding a "0" Value
There's an important policy distinction between users who consent to third-party tracking and users who haven't expressed a preference.  To clarify this difference, the header now has three states:
"DNT: 1" - The user opts out of third-party tracking.
"DNT: 0" - The user consents to third-party tracking.
[No Header] - The user has not expressed a preference about third-party tracking.

Published in: Blog , donottrack