FTC Updates Consumer Information Page with New Online Tracking Guidance

FTC

Recently, the FTC updated its “Consumer Information” page with new online tracking guidance. The new guidance details how web browsers use first- and third-party “cookies” as an online tracking method to save consumers’ online preferences, eventually customizing their browsing experience and delivering ads targeted toward a specific consumer. Additional online tracking devices described in the FTC’s guidance include (i) flash cookies, which use Adobe Flash technology to store information about consumers’ online browsing activities; (ii) device fingerprinting, which identifies a specific consumer’s device based on browser configurations and settings and “can be used to track [consumers] on all kinds of internet-connected devices that have browsers, such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers”; and (iii) device identifiers, which monitor “different applications used on a particular device.” The guidance notes that consumers can limit the use of online tracking technologies by turning on “private browsing” in their browser settings, opting out of targeted advertising, and selecting the “Do Not Track” option, which is available in most browsers. Finally, the guidance also recommends that consumers “learn about tracker-blocking browser plugins,” which “prevent companies from using cookies or fingerprinting to track [consumers’] internet behavior.”