Will HR 2929 Close the Cookie Jar?

A Bill is pending in Congress that is intended to improve Internet security and privacy. HR 2929 requires every tracking cookie served by third parties and aggregated publishers, be it a session cookie or a persistent cookie, be served only if approved by the end-user regardless of the recipient's browser setting.

I applaude the intent of this Bill - I doubt the logic behind the Bill.

Technology advanced, we learned how to use cookies - now the laws have to adjust so the technology is not abused.

It is ignorance or ego (or both) that a company thinks it can track your web activity without permission.

However, opt-in permission for each and every cookie is ridiculous. Opt-in should be by company or by site.

Interestingly, the Mozilla browser already has a very customizable Cookie Acceptance Policy (a function of Level of Privacy) that allows you to decide your level of privacy.

You can choose to accept, reject, flag, or allow for the session first party cookies and third party cookies based on (1) if the site has no privacy policy (2) if the site collects personally identifiable info without your consent (3) if the site collects personally identifiable info with your implicit consent (4) site does not collect persanlly identifiable.

Mozilla pretty much covers what this Bill proposes to do - by using technology - and without causing major headeaches. (Unfortunately Mozilla's new browser "Firefox" does not have the same level of detail in cookie management.)

Will politicians' technological ignorance ruin the web experience and kill a booming industry?

Check it:
http://www.mozilla.org/