I really thank you for sharing the privacy plugin to prevent 3rd parties from tracking and data mining web visitors.

@media6 – I think the point is NOT whether you are good or not when an ad is served, but the basic fact that some kind of data collection is happening on our OWN sites that we’re not aware of, because the method is hidden within plugins which we install. I keep seeing media6 flash up on my site when refreshing (I’m on the lookout for things that might be slowing down loading time) and had no idea WHY this destination was being contacted.

I’ve only worked it out by a combination of luck and follow-up by coming here. I now have to look carefully through all of my plugins to work out which one is responsible. IF I want to trade use of a free plugin for marketing activity it should be a conscious choice, not a ‘backdoor’ fete accomplis. Not necessarily Media6′s fault – it’s the plugin writer(s) but I do suspect some degree (6?) of complicity, even if it’s just through silent acceptance.

We just put it up on WordPress for free download here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/trackable-social-share-icons/

If you get a chance to check it out, I’d love to hear what you think.

Thank you for your comments. AddtoAny is a great product and the company has been an excellent partner of ours. In exchange for the data they help us collect we help them by providing funds that can be used for further investment in the product.

I thought it would be a good idea to respond to each of your points.

#1 – Your point is well taken. This is the reason why we are one of the companies helping to roll out “enhanced notice”. This is an initiative where every single advertisement served by our company will have a link where readers can a) find out who is serving the ad and what data was used and b) opt out of behavioral tracking and advertising. Back in January, The New York Times wrote a piece about the industry’s initiative (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/business/media/27adco.html). Notice and choice are incredibly important for any reader. Until this rolls out please feel free to direct your readers to the NAI opt out page (http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp) or recommend that they install the TACO plug in.

#2 – I think a “yes/no marketing” option is a fantastic suggestion and will definitely shoot a note to the AddtoAny folks.

#3 – Media6Degrees utilizes data to build connections between browsers. When our pixel loads on a web page, we collect the URL (which is anonymized). We do not know (or need to know) the context of the page. We then assign that browser a unique ID. We do not collect name, age, gender, interest, “friends”, location, or any other information. We do not know a single thing about a reader. The only data we know is that a browser visited a URL . We then look to see if any other browsers visited that URL. If so we log a connection.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at andrew@media6degrees.com.

Best,

Andrew Pancer
COO
Media6Degrees

I certainly appreciate you coming here to explain your position, but there a few things that are troubling to me about your response.

#1: The opt-out button applies to people following Media6 links, which assumes 1) that people on a random webpage with a Share link will think to follow the privacy policy links before clicking and 2) that this should be the responsibility of the consumer. When I mouseover that Share link above, there is no mention of “click here for privacy options” or even a small print “privacy” link. You leave it up to the site visitor to hunt down such information, which is not feasible or reasonable for most visitors.

#2: Considering #1 above, you are implicitly saying that the responsibility for opt-outs falls with the site visitor, and not with the site creator. My visitors will hold me responsible for whatever my site does, and I should be fully informed about any marketing strategies that are being used when I install a plugin. Even a simple radio button “Yes Marketing / No Marketing” would accomplish this. This is where my disquiet originated.

#3: You state that you wanted to explain your business model by saying, “We do not collect any type of personally identifiable information and never scrape social network sites for data.” That doesn’t explain it at all – what do you collect, then?

And to optout you have to type code!! Even if you can, it’s ridiculous!

We also wanted to clear up any confusion there might be about our business model and the type of information Media6Degrees collects from consumers. We do not collect any type of personally identifiable information and never scrape social network sites for data. Just to reiterate: we have no idea who you are, what you like and any other type of personal information you might make public on a social network.

Protecting consumer privacy and ensuring online advertising is done in a respectful manner are two vital points of importance for Media6Degrees. In addition to our membership in the Network Advertising Initiative (http://www.networkadvertising.org/), we serve on the board of directors and are Truste certified (http://www.truste.com/). We were a launch partner for the NAI’s Consumer Opt Out Protector Add-On for Firefox (http://networkadvertising.org/managing/protector_license.asp) and passed 2009 NAI compliance without any issue.

We’ve also played a pivotal role in the development of the NAI’s upcoming Enhanced Notice Program and are excited about the level of control it provides consumers, as it brings information and choice from the small print directly into the ad. An example of enhanced noticed can be found here: http://green.yahoo.com/living-green/ (click the Ad Choice icon above the ad).

Hopefully this helps allay concerns about our business and our methods.

Best,
The Media6Degrees Team