Over the past year there has been a lot of conversation about the do-not-track proposal the Federal Trade Commission outlined in its initial December 2010 draft report. Though a minor topic in the report, it has become the focus of discussions as the online-advertising industry grows rapidly and attempts to anticipate changes in the way it gathers and uses data to target consumers.

When do not track was proposed, the idea was that consumers should have a simple opt-out mechanism to prevent marketers from collecting information based on browsing activity and using it to deliver targeted online ads. But since the draft report was issued, what do not track means has been widely debated, and several definitions have developed. There is no consensus yet, a fact highlighted by the FTC recently.

The controversy comes down to the difference between data collection and targeted marketing: Does do not track mean do not collect or do not target?