Do Not Track is a privacy setting in Chrome, Firefox and other web browsers. When we choose the Do Not Track option (it’s turned off by default), our browser sends a request to the websites we visit that asks the site not collect or track our browsing data.

While that sounds like a terrific idea to anyone who doesn’t want to see creepy, targeted ads based on their web browsing history, it’s unfortunately not that simple. Simply stated, Do Not Track doesn’t work. Worse, it may give some us a false sense of security.  Reporter Kashmir Hill, writing in Gizmodo compares DNT to a ” spray-on sunscreen” that makes us feel safe but does nothing to actually protect us. If you have activated DNT in your browser, keep in mind that it won’t  stop websites from tracking you across the web and using the data to target you with personalized ads.

Why doesn’t Do Not Track do what it was designed to do?

The answer is surprisingly simple. DNT doesn’t stop data collection and tracking because only a handful of websites comply with our requests not to be tracked.That includes social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as search engines like Google and Yahoo. And think about this for a moment. Google’s Chrome browser allows users to enable the Do Not Track option through their privacy settings. But Google itself won’t comply with a Chrome user’s stated preference not to be tracked.

This isn’t the way it was supposed to be. Do Not Track was intended to be an internet version of the national Do Not Call Registry , which is designed to stop unwanted telemarketing calls. Although Do-Not-Call has been reasonably successful in accomplishing its intended purpose (although it unfortunately can’t stop robocalls from scammers), that’s not the case for Do Not Track. Jonathan Mayer, a computer scientist who teaches at Princeton University, describes it as “a failed experiment”.   And Mayer should know. He and Arivind Narayanan, another computer scientist at Princeton, played an active and influential role in in getting Do Not Track up and running.

Why won’t websites comply with Do Not Track requests?

Again, the answer is simple – they have no incentive to do so. A telemarketer who calls a consumer who registered their phone number on the Do Not Call Registry can be be liable to that consumer for statutory damages of $500 for each unlawful call (or actual losses if greater). They can also be sued by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.

But there are no laws or regulations hat require websites to honor Do Not Track requests. The browsing data websites can collect by tracking visitors across the web is valuable and provides an important revenue stream for many sites. We, as consumers, have no leverage. There are no market forces at play. Since virtually every website refuses to comply with Do Not Track requests, . we can’t take our business somewhere else. There’s no place else to go.

The most infuriating thing may be the reasons why many websites say they won’t honor Do Not Track requests. Many claim they won’t comply because there’s no accepted industry standard for how they should respond. If you think that explanation makes absolutely no sense, you’re not alone. Anyone who selects the Do Not Track option in their browser is sending a clear and unmistakable message to every website they visit – don’t track me. The fact that there’s no accepted industry standard doesn’t change the message.

As Kashmir Hill explains in her article “[i]t’s one thing to tell someone you want to be left alone, and another to get them to care.” It’s may be unrealistic and naive for us to expect websites and for-profit businesses to care about our privacy. But laws that make them financial liable to us will make them care about their own bottom line. The end result is the same.

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