Twitter implementing ‘Do Not Track’ privacy option for users

Twitter has started allowing users to opt out of having personal information collected by its service. At a New York Internet Week privacy panel, the FTC announced that Twitter will begin using Firefox’s “Do Not Track” provision, which allows users to stop sites from using cookies to collect information like browsing habits or display targeted ads. The Firefox option is easy to set, but it only works for services that have explicitly implemented it. So far, giants like Yahoo and AOL have complied with Do Not Track, but Twitter is one of the first major social networks to do so. Facebook, for example, allows users to see some of what’s being collected, but it doesn’t provide an opt-out feature.

Twitter and Mozilla have both confirmed the news, and a Twitter spokeswoman told the New York Times that the company was “excited to provide the benefits of Do Not Track.” While the panel was focused on Firefox, we imagine that Safari and Internet Explorer users will be able to get the same results with equivalent features, which are being strongly supported by the FTC. Google is still lagging behind on this, although the company says it will eventually release a version of Do Not Track with Chrome.