Do Not Track

Do Not Track (DNT) is a deprecated non-standard^[1] HTTP header field designed to allow internet users to opt out of tracking by websites—which includes the collection of data regarding a user's activity across multiple distinct contexts, and the retention, use, or sharing of data derived from that activity outside the context in which it occurred.^[2]

The Do Not Track header was originally proposed in 2009^[3] and was adopted by most major browsers within a few years. However, the header failed to find widespread respect among the publishers,^[4] due to the lack of legislation requiring companies to legally respect the DNT header and confusion about the header meaning.^[5] The DNT header was abandoned by standards bodies such as the W3C.^[4] As of 2025, some browsers had removed the header, including Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox.^[6]

Following the failure of the DNT initiative, a coalition of US-based internet companies announced the creation of the Global Privacy Control header which is intended to have explicit legal force under privacy legislation.