California, Colorado, and Connecticut launch joint crackdown on privacy violators

California, Colorado, and Connecticut have launched a joint enforcement sweep against businesses that fail to honor consumers’ online opt-out requests, the states announced Tuesday.

Businesses that operate in those three states are required by state laws to respect the preferences of users who do not want their personal data collected by websites they visit. Websites typically track users’ behavior, like which pages they visited, which subjects they clicked on, and what items they purchased. This and other browsing data can be used to create an overall profile of users, leading to targeted advertisements.

Consumers can signal their wishes to opt out by doing so on a case-by-case basis on websites they visit, by clicking a “do not sell my data” link displayed on the website. They can also opt out of sharing on every website, through a browser setting or extension, called a global privacy control. The GPC should alert every website visited that the user didn’t want their data collected. It’s up to businesses to note that request and honor it.