ReadWriteWeb

Last December, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission called upon leaders in the Web browser industry to develop technological means to enable servers to comply with federal guidelines - which are likely to become laws.

The FTC mandated that they refrain from implementing any kind of behavioral tracking for individuals who explicitly opt out of all tracking. Although lawmakers two years ago envisioned a system where each server asks each user for her explicit permission, the preferable alternative would be for a user who simply never wishes to be tracked, to never be asked.

Ever wanted to have instant information about any trackers used by a website you visit? Then take a look at Ghostery, a Firefox extension that alerts you to any Web Bugs present on a site by placing a Pac-Man type icon in your status bar and providing a list of all trackers found.