FAQ

About us, terms and policies

About tracking, policies and opt-outs

Opting out through privacychoice

TrackerScan add-on for Firefox

Opt-out add-on for Firefox

About us

• What is privacychoice?

  The privacychoice mission is to help make consumer privacy choices understandable and actionable. We believe that with information and the ability to make choices, consumers can take more control of their own privacy and directly influence the practices and policies that affect it.

  PrivacyChoice has developed and maintains the only industry-wide database of ad-targeting companies, including domains used by over 200 ad networks and platforms, their privacy policies and opt-out and opt-in processes. By continuously spidering the top several thousand websites and collecting information from a panel of 30,000 users, PrivacyChoice maintains a map of the ad networks present on websites, which enables verification of opt-out effectiveness and rapid identification of new tracking networks.

  We are not affiliated with the advertising industry or any of the companies included in our opt-out wizard. The cost of operating privacychoice is supported by contributions of time and money from users and sites who use our service. privacychoice was designed by Jim Brock, a technology entrepreneur, former Yahoo! executive and co-founder of Attributor. Jim writes the privacychoice blog.

• How can I help?

  Here are two easy ways:

  • Tell others about the service
  • Provide us with feedback on your experience and suggestions for improvements.

• What is your privacy policy?

  These privacy practices and policies apply to your use of our service:

  What information is collected? When you visit our site or use our services, we log standard technical information, such as the numerical Internet protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using; the browser software you use and your operating system; and the Internet address of the website from which you followed a link to our site. This information is kept by our hosting provider, and we only access it in aggregate form via an analytics application.

  We don't use beacons or set tracking cookies to associate your activities across different websites with the PrivacyWidget. We only retain your email address if you provide it with your permission, and we do not use them to send unsolicited email. When you opt-out of any tracking through privacychoice, we set a cookie that remembers your opt-out preferences for when you return to our site or see the PrivacyWidget on another website, and our browser add-on uses this cookie to preserve the appropriate opt-out cookies. Otherwise we do not use persistent cookies on this site unless you use "Remember Me" or similar functionality. We may use session cookies from time to time. Session cookies expire when you close your browser. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, and use a number of free tools and browser add-ons if you wish to keep your IP number and other technical information anonymous.

  To understand aggregate usage patterns, we use an open source site analytics system, Piwik, which we operate on our own servers. This system writes and reads cookies to identify return visitors. Because we host the service, no third party has access to this usage information, which we do not share. If you see Piwik appear on our site through tools like Ghostery, that does not mean that Piwik is receiving or has access to any information about your use of this site.

  We also collect and retain information you submit to us, which is always at your option. If you choose to register your site or become a member, we may ask for your name, title, email address, city, state, postal code, country of residence, and phone number, and we may invite you to select a password. For contributing members, we also ask you to pay through PayPal, which may retain your credit card number; we do not receive or retain any credit card information. We never associate any of your personally identifiable information with information about your activities through our services.

  When you use the TrackerScan add-on or bookmark or view a PrivacyWidget on a third-party website, that action submits the list of tracking companies on the page that you are viewing in order to provide the tracking company information you have requested for that page or website. We also use this information (in aggregate) to maintain our database as to which tracking companies are generally present on individual websites. However, individual pages you may view are never collected across websites, nor are they associated with any anonymous or personally identifiable information you may otherwise provide to us.

  We may link to third parties, such as -- UserVoice (privacy policy) or Google, and these parties may use cookies or other tracking methods.

  How is the information used? We use member information to process and manage your membership or contribution. If you have provided your email address, we will use your email address to send you updates and alerts about our services. We look log and click-stream information to maintain and improve our services, and to diagnose any problems with your account. When we collect information from you for surveys and similar activities we will use that information only for the purposes described.

  What agents have access to it? From time to time, we may work with consultants or other third parties who may have access to information about our users, including personally identifiable information of our members. We restrict their use of personally identifiable information in accordance with their assigned tasks and subject to the limitations of this policy. Our site provides links to third-party websites. We don't control and are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such third parties.

  When and how is information otherwise shared with third parties? We will disclose personally identifiable information about you to third parties only in these circumstances: (1) with your express consent, (2) when we have a good faith belief it is required by law, (3) when we have a good faith belief it is necessary to protect our rights or property, or (4) to any successor in a merger or acquisition. If we are required by law to disclose your information, unless prohibited we will attempt (by email) to provide you with notice in order to give you an opportunity to object to the disclosure. You will be responsible for making any objection.

  How do I change or remove my information? You may choose to correct, update, or delete the membership information you have submitted to us by sending an email requesting changes to privacy@privacychoice.org. You may unsubscribe from email communications by clicking on a link in the bottom of each email.

  How do you secure information and how long do you keep it? We and our data hosts employ security measures to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. Information submitted through the membership and donation processes is encrypted through a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) connections provided by third-part payment service providers. We do not keep any record of your credit card payment information. Although we make good faith efforts to store information in a secure operating environment, we cannot guarantee complete security. We maintain information collected for no more than one year after your last interaction with our service or the termination of your membership.

  What are my California privacy rights? Residents of California (or any other state, for that matter) have the right to request in writing from businesses with whom they have an established business relationship the following: (i) a list of the categories of personal information (e.g., name, address, e-mail address, and the type of services provided to the customer) that a business has disclosed to third parties, during the immediately preceding calendar year, for the third parties' direct marketing purposes, and (ii) the names and addresses of all such third parties. To request the above information, please e-mail us at: privacy@privacychoice.net, or write to us at privacychoice LLC, PO Box 7772, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, with a reference to California Disclosure Information. We will respond to such written requests promptly (or more likely immediately, since the answer will be "none".)

  How do I find out about changes to this policy? Our privacy policy may change from time to time. If we make any substantive changes to our policies, we will place a notice on privacychoice.net and send an email to all contributing members.

• What terms and conditions apply to my use of the service?

  These terms are a condition of your use of privacychoice services, whether as a free user or contributing member. (Apologies for the legalese!)

  No automated use. No automated use of this service is permitted. Non-permitted use includes creating any separate compilation of privacychoice summaries or excerpts. Neither our web service nor any browser add-on may be distributed or embedded in any other application or service without our permission.

  Copyright and trademarks. privacychoice LLC owns copyright to the compilation and summaries presented, and reserves all rights. Please contact us [permissions@privacychoice.org] to request any permissions. privacychoice and the privacychoice logo, all images and text, and all page headers, custom graphics and button icons are service marks, trademarks and/or trade dress of privacychoice LLC. All other trademarks, product names and company names or logos cited in the service are the property of their respective owners.

  We are happy to license our tracking company database at no charge for academic and non-profit purposes. Please contact us.

  No advice. Nothing we provide constitutes advice of any kind, including legal advice. If you require advice in relation to any legal matter you should consult an attorney. Using this service or sending us an email does not create an attorney-client relationship.

  No warranties. All privacychoice services are provided as is, without any representations or warranties, express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. Nothing in this disclaimer will exclude or limit any warranty implied by law that it would be unlawful to exclude or limit; and nothing in this disclaimer will exclude or limit our liability in respect of any matter which it would be illegal or unlawful to exclude or limit, or to attempt or purport to exclude or limit, our liability.

  No responsibility for third-party data practices. We do not and cannot promise that this service will eliminate or control the collection, use or sharing of your online information. The companies collecting information are responsible for compliance with their own policies.

  No liability. We will not be liable to you (whether under the law of contract, the law of torts or otherwise) in relation to this website or the templates for any direct, indirect, special or consequential loss; or for any business losses, loss of revenue, income, profits or anticipated savings, loss of contracts or business relationships, loss of reputation or goodwill, or loss or corruption of information or data.

  Errors and omissions. We make no guarantee that our excerpts and summaries are accurate, complete or consistent. All summaries and excerpts are offered "as is" and are qualified entirely by the full text of the related privacy policy. While we monitor for hundreds of companies that collect user information across websites, our list is incomplete.

  Other matters. By using or subscribing to this service, you agree that all of our rights and obligations are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California, excluding its choice of law rules. Any legal action or proceeding relating to your use of this service may only be instituted in a state or federal court in Santa Cruz County, California, and each of us agree to submit to the jurisdiction of these courts. These terms expressly exclude and disclaim the terms of the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, which do not apply to any transaction involving this service. Minors are not eligible to use the service and we ask that they do not submit any personal information to us. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone and to cancel user access at any time.

  These additional terms apply to sites using the PrivacyWidget:

  Limited License. As a member, you have a non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide right to use the service subject to these terms. You grant us the non-exclusive, worldwide right to use, copy, store, transmit and display any information that you enter into our system. You agree not to modify, edit, reproduce, reverse engineer, compile or create derivative works from the privacychoice database of summaries. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.

  Additional warranties and agreements. As a contributing member, you have the ability to customize elements of the PrivacyWidget for your website that is hosted on the privacychoice service. You are solely responsible for your own customization. You agree that you will not include or omit any information or content in your highlights pages in a way that renders your page inaccurate or misleading. You warrant that you are authorized to use this service on behalf of the owner of any domain that you claim. You agree that you will be personally responsible for all losses of any kind resulting from lack of such authority. You agree to protect your password, and to prevent any unauthorized access to your account.

  Indemnification. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless privacychoice, our officers, directors, members, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses or expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of any privacychoice service, including (but not limited to) any breach of warranty.

  Payment and automatic renewal. If you are a contributing member, payment for an initial term of membership is due in advance at the time of purchase. We will send notice of renewal approximately one month before the start of the new renewal term. Unless you notify us otherwise (cancel@privacychoice.net) before the renewal date, your membership will renew for an additional term of the same length and at the same price as the initial term (or any different price stated in the renewal notice). Your credit card will be then charged on or after the renewal date without further action by you.

  Service changes. We may add, change or remove any functionality or other aspect of the privacychoice service in our discretion.

  Other limitations. We cannot guarantee the completeness, accuracy or timely delivery of any alerts provided as part of your membership. Our service will not always be available, due to scheduled and unscheduled downtime. We are not responsible for any unauthorized alteration of your information.

  Privacy. Please read our privacy policy for privacy-related terms of service.

About tracking, policies and opt-outs

• What kinds of companies use cookies to track behavior across websites?

  • Advertising networks track you to provide advertising that they believe aligns with you interests.
  • Research and analytics companies may use tracking for research about overall user behavior or to estimate how many people are using certain websites or viewing certain content.
  • Content delivery firms may use tracking to recommend content to you based on what you've watched and how you've rated it.

• What are my choices?

  You can:

  1. Do nothing, or use other methods to block cookies.
  2. Opt out completely, from all of the tracking and targeting networks that allow you to do so.
  3. Opt out selectively, from tracking companies that have policy questions or are not subject to any oversight through industry organizations.

• Why limit the opt-out to companies with policy questions? Why not just opt-out completely?

  The selective opt-out choice is for people who are not bothered by the use of tracking information, with some restrictions and accountability. You might make this choice because:

  • You want ad networks to show you more relevant advertising, based on your online activities (like what you're shopping for), and you use private browsing modes when you want complete anonymity.
  • By allowing higher value advertising, you want to support the ad-revenue businesses of websites and publishers who provide services and content that you use and enjoy.
  • You want to reward better and more responsible behavior, sending an important signal to all of the networks and their advertiser customers.

• How can I select which companies should be in my opt-out?

  Just check one or more of the boxes based on what's important to you:

  • Are they a member of the Network Advertising Initiative, which publishes privacy standards and practices and conducts an annual compliance review of each member company?
  • Does their privacy policy state that they keep users anonymous by not collecting personal information or by separating it from information about activities across websites?
  • Do they keep the information for more than 12 months?

  If your company is listed here and you disagree with our assessment, please contact us.

• What are TRUSTe and the NAI?

  TRUSTe is a private company that provides certification services to websites, particularly e-commerce sites that handle personally identifiable information of their customers. TRUSTe publishes a list of certification requirements, which include:

  • Published requirements for handling personally identifiable information.
  • A process for responding to complaints and questions, which users can escalate to a TRUSTe-managed dispute resolution process.
  • compliance monitoring by TRUSTe and annual recertification.

  TRUSTe's business model is to charge sites for compliance services, and for the right to display a TRUSTe seal on their websites, which is thought to enhance consumer confidence. TRUSTe has over 2,000 websites in their membership.

  The Network Advertising Initiative was formed by a group of advertising networks, including Google, Yahoo! and AOL. NAI describes itself as 'a coalition of leading online marketing companies committed to building consumer awareness and reinforcing responsible business and data management practices and standards.' NAI hosts a unified opt-out page that includes its members.

  In 2008 NAI published a set of guidelines (PDF) that include the follow requirements for their membership:

  • Requirements of consumer notice as to their practices in collection, transfer and use of consumer information, both personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable information.
  • Means for consumers to exercise choice over the use of their information, including designations of when that choice can be offered on an "opt out" basis or must be offered on an "opt in" basis.
  • Restrictions on use of information other than for marketing purposes, and a prohibition on non-consensual merging personal information with information about a user's online activities.
  • Consent to annual compliance reviews directed by the NAI board, and NAI review of any "credible unresolved consumer complaint."

  The privacychoice service does not endorse TRUSTe or the NAI. They are included as one of several criteria in the Selective Opt-out choice, insofar as membership indicates a tracking network has agreed to some degree of external accountability. We're interested in your input on whether and how greater accountability can be included in the selective opt-out test.

• Why should I trust tracking networks to respect my preferences?

  We aren't suggesting that you should, and we cannot guarantee that every tracking network will obey your preferences. On the other hand, we expect that most companies make efforts to comply with their policies, since a breach could hurt their relationship with advertisers, or expose them to penalties with industry organizations. The Federal Trade Commission also has authority to enforce rules against deceptive or inaccurate policy statements by these firms.

  If you are concerned that networks will disregard your opt-out preferences and you do not want your online behavior tracked, you should consider other methods to block third party cookies on your computer, many of which are presented under "Your Choices."

• Can I read the privacy policies myself?

  Yes, and to make it easier, we have gathered a list of privacy policy links and a custom Google search tool that lets you search all of those policies by keyword.

  By the way, policies and the words in them are subject to interpretation, which is why we look for clear and express statements. We may include firms in the selective opt-out if their policies are not clear and they have not responded to our requests for clarification.

  If you believe that any company has been misclassified, please contact us.

Opting out through privacychoice

• How does the opt-out wizard work?

  The privacychoice wizard uses cookies, small files written to your computer by sites as you use the Web, to signal to tracking networks that you have opted-out of sharing information about your activities across websites.

  Nearly all websites use Web cookies for useful things, like remembering your username from visit to visit. Since web pages consist of content served by many different companies, any or all of them may also serve cookies on your machine through that page. These include networks that provide advertising and companies that do market research. By recognizing your browser as you visit different sites, these companies collect information about your overall activities and interests. In the case of search engines, like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, this information also includes words you have searched on.

  Tracking companies that offer an "opt out" from this profiling provide a special cookie that tells their systems not to record your behavior when your browser communicates with their servers. Rather than having to visit all of those individual networks sites to opt-out, you can use privacychoice to cause your browser to collect those cookies from all of the different networks, at the push of one button. You can choose either to opt out completely from all networks that provide opt-out cookies, or to opt out selectively from networks whose privacy policies are less restrictive about use of your information.

  The privacychoice browser add-on makes your opt-out preferences permanent, by re-writing all of the opt-out cookies on your computer whenever cookies are cleared or when you start a new browser session, in case cookies are deleted from your computer (such as when you clear personal information). The browser add-on also provides the most complete coverage, since it writes opt-out cookies for all networks, even those who block our web-based wizard. In these ways, using the browser add-on is the most effective way to implement your opt-out preferences, and is strongly recommended.

  The browser add-on establishes your opt-out preferences for that browser alone. You need to install in on each computer you use.

• Which networks and services are not covered by the privacychoice service?

  Although the privacychoice wizard includes most of the big tracking networks, unfortunately many others do not offer opt-out capabilities. We track these companies in our Hall of Shame, and we invite you to send email to their privacy officers to encourage them to make opt-outs available (or explain why they aren't necessary). If you are aware of a tracking network that is neither in our opt-out service nor listed in the Hall of Shame, please contact us.

• I'm an ad network, how do I make sure my opt-out process is included in privacychoice?

  Just send us a note, and we will include you pronto.

  Also we encourage networks to link to us in their own privacy policies.

• How do you select which policies to show for each website?

  On the full tracker summary for each site, the trackers are presented in the order of their prevalence in our sample; the trackers found on the most sampled pages appear first. Then when we select a tracker for each category (like Anonymity or Sharing), we start at the top of the list, presenting the most prevalent tracker with concerns, or just the most prevalent tracker if none has concerns.

TrackerScan add-on for Firefox

• The TrackerScan button didn't show up on my toolbar. What should I do?

  Normally, the TrackerScan eye-on shows up on the Navigation Toolbar, just to the left of the URL box. On Apple computers, it may show up to the far right in the Navigation Toolbar. If it doesn't show up, you can manually add it by going to View > Toolbars > Customize. Look for the TrackerScan icon and drag it to your toolbar. This is also how you can move the TrackerScan toolbar button to another location.

• How can I find the "Options" for TrackerScan?

  To keep things simple, there are no configurable options for the TrackerScan add-on. All you need to do is click on the eye-con when you're on a page of interest, and you'll see the tracking networks for that page.

Opt-out add-on for Firefox

• How does the browser add-on work?

  An add-on is a small program that customizes how your browser works; Firefox was designed to allow add-ons and thousands have been created, including toolbars from companies like Google, Yahoo! and StumbleUpon. If you want to learn more about Firefox add-ons, the Mozilla site has an FAQ.

  The privacychoice add-on can tell when cookies are deleted from your browser, and in that event it re-writes all of the opt-out cookies. It also re-writes your opt-out cookies each time you start a new browser session. The last thing it does is store a spare copy of your privacychoice preferences on your computer, so those are not lost if cookies are cleared. The browser add-on does not monitor or collect any other information.

  The browser add-on has been engineered to work without noticeably affecting your browser performance, but let us know if you have a different experience.

• After installing the add-on, each time I start my browser it goes to a privacychoice page. How can I stop this?

  For the PrivacyChoice Opt-out add-on to function properly, Firefox must be set to accept third-party cookies (which is the default setting). You can access this setting by selecting the menu Tools > Options > Privacy. The settings for accepting third-party cookies is in the History menu > Use custom settings for history.

  Please note that if you have decided to block all third-party cookies through your browser settings, you may not need the opt-out add-on, because your browser is already blocking trackers that operate across different websites. If that is your preference, we recommend that you uninstall the opt-out add-on.

• What are some reasons why the opt-out might not work for me?

  If you are not using the browser add-on, some opt-outs may not work for you in these cases:
  • You have your browser set to refuse all cookies or third party cookies (you're not being cookie-profiled then, anyway, so it may not matter to you).
  • You are using the Safari browser, which generally does not allow third party cookies.
  • The tracking company's network server may have changed its processes (this happens frequently although we try to keep up).
  • Your browser may have ad blockers or other systems that interfere with setting cookies.
  • Your browser is set to delete cookies every time you close it.

  The best way to avoid these problems is to install the browser add-on.

• What if I want to change from Complete Opt-out to Concerns-only Opt-out?

  If you chose Complete Opt-out, and now you want to reset your preferences to Concerns-only Opt-out, here's what you need to do:

  If you are not using the privacychoice browser add-on:

  1. Clear the opt-out cookies from your computer. (In Firefox, use Tools > Clear Private Data; in Internet Explorer, Tools > Delete Browsing History; in Chrome, click on the Wrench icon and choose Clear browsing data.)
  2. If there are cookies that you want to protect from being cleared (such as those that remember your login information at favorite sites), most browsers allow you to select cookies to protect from deletion; do this before you clear cookies.
  3. Once the opt-out cookies have been cleared, repeat the selection process on our homepage with your new preferences.

  If you are using the privacychoice browser add-on:

  1. Uninstall the add-on (using Manage Add-ons under the Options tab in Firefox).
  2. Clear the opt-out cookies from your computer (see above).
  3. Run the opt-out process again.
  4. Reinstall the add-on with your new preferences.

  If you want to opt back into a specific network, many of them support opt IN as well as opt OUT on their websites. You can opt-in to most networks through the NAI page. Site-by-site selection of opt-outs would be a nice improvement for the privacychoice service.

• How do I uninstall the opt-out browser add-on?

  In Firefox, go to "Tools > Add-ons" and select the Extensions Tab. Find the Privacy Choice plug-in and click the Uninstall button. You may need to restart Firefox to complete the uninstallation.

  After you uninstall the add-on, no more opt-out cookies will be written on your computer. If you also want to remove the preferences that were saved before you uninstalled, you need to clear the opt-out cookies from your computer. (In Firefox, use Tools > Clear Private Data; in Internet Explorer, Tools > Delete Browsing History; in Chrome, click on the Wrench icon and choose Clear browsing data.) If there are cookies that you want to protect from being cleared (such as those that remember your login information at favorite sites), most browsers allow you to select cookies to protect from deletion; do this before you clear cookies.

  If you are dissatisfied with the add-on or have an idea of how to improve it, please be sure to give us your feedback.