I’m kind of at a loss here. I don’t know whether to laugh or cheer. On one hand part of me thinks that this is a good idea for those folks out there that don’t like seeing their information being thrown into databases around the web to be data mined for the financial benefit of those holding the information. Then the other part of me is still rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.

Is this the same web that has people signing up left and right in all kinds of social networks etc and providing information the majority of us wouldn’t even give to the government. On top of that we constantly update that information almost every day; if not multiple times of the day. Is this this same web where we freely give away our information so we can use a multitude of web based software were again we don’t own the data. The idea of having something as inane Do-Not-Track list seems almost laughable under the whole philosophy of Web 2.0 and social networks.

While Steve Rubel considers this whole Do-Not-Track thing as a part of a larger issue of behavioral targeting that is coming into vogue with advertisers we have on the other side of the coin Marshall Kirkpatrick suggesting that such a list could end up hurting us more than helping. Myself I just see this as ludicrous situation where we have those who would give away their informational soul for free stuff on one side and people who value their personal information above everything else on the other.

Even with the recent resurgence of calls about how bad cookies are (like I haven’t seen this nonsense before) and attacks against the Whois system we have Facebook planning on unleashing a massive ad network for both inside and outside of Facebook that will rely on cookies. I’d be willing to bet that folks won’t give a rats ass about what Facebook is doing to be able to serve up those behavioral targeted ads as they surf the web - that is if they even leave the walled garden of Facebook - because look at all the free stuff they’re getting.

It is being proven everyday that people care less and less about what is being done with their information. Sure there is a small minority of of us netizens who still treasure our information and don’t hand it out wholesale but in the larger scheme of things it seems that people just don’t appear to care. It’s a case of here’s my info now give me the free stuff - even if it’s shit. Under these conditions the idea of a Do-Not-Track seems like nothing more than a joke to keep us distracted while we join yet another social network and a way for the goodie two shoes to feel good about the fact that they are yet again protecting us from ourselves.

Like Steve Rubel says … “Get yer popcorn. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Listening to: Solaris - Nostradamus: Book of Prophecies - Wings of the Phoenix

Conversation Tags: information, social networks, Web 2.0, Do-Not-Track, Facebook, cookies, Whois