OPTOUTCODE, PRIVACY4CARS' NEW UNIVERSAL OPT OUT MECHANISM, SHORTLISTED BY COLORADO AS A LEGALLY BINDING WAY FOR CONSUMERS TO OPT OUT OF DATA SALE AND TARGETING IN MONUMENTAL CONCEPT REVEAL

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Dec 12, 2023, 06:52 ET

Privacy4Cars' Proposal Would Make Saying "No" to Commercial Surveillance as Easy as Renaming One's Device by Adding the Prefix 0$S = Do Not (zero) Sell (dollar) or Share (capital letter S)

ATLANTA, Dec. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Privacy4Cars, a privacy-tech company focused on solving privacy challenges posed by vehicles, recently made the Colorado Department of Law shortlist with OptOutCode, a new Universal Opt-Out Mechanism. The radical concept, which simply relies on a consumer renaming their devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, laptops, and routers) by adding "0$S" as the first three characters in their name had already garnered the official support of Electronic Frontier Foundation and Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. It has now been added to the Colorado Attorney General's Universal Opt-Out Shortlist. If accepted after a final review of public comments, OptOutCode would have to be recognized as an opt-out mechanism by data collectors, data brokers, and the AdTech industry, giving Colorado consumers the easiest and broadest way to not be targeted and minimize their data footprint. Companies failing to detect and treat the signal as a valid request would be in violation of the Colorado Privacy Act starting July 2024. Approval by Colorado may lead to OptOutCode becoming legally binding in California, as well (where opt-out regulation is already in effect), along with other states currently pending similar legislation for 2025 including Connecticut, Texas and Montana, and many more states in the future.

Privacy4Cars, a privacy-tech company focused on solving privacy challenges posed by vehicles, recently made the Colorado Department of Law shortlist with OptOutCode, a new Universal Opt-Out Mechanism. OptOutCode relies on a standardized portion of a device name (setting the first three letters as “0$S”) to communicate an opt-out. For more information, or to learn more about the concept and its supporting organizations, please visit: https://optoutcode.com.

OptOutCode relies on a standardized portion of a device name (setting the first three letters as "0$S") to communicate an opt-out. It leverages pre-existing and future-proof communication standards across many device categories, making OptOutCode the first truly universal opt-out mechanism and is compatible with smartphones, laptops, tablets, routers, the apps that run on them and the IoTs they connect to. It also does not require to build, maintain, query, or secure a central database of opting-out users, devices, or apps. All a consumer needs to do is modify the name of a device they own by adding the standardized prefix "0$S". For example, the owner of a smartphone would opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal data collected by their phone, by the apps running on their phone, and by the IoTs connected to their phone by simply turning OptOutCode on their phone, e.g., by changing the name of their phone from "My Phone" to "0$S My Phone."

The concept was initially designed as a way to help consumers opt-out for vehicles, which are increasingly becoming massive data collection devices and have been deemed by many experts as "a privacy nightmare". Privacy4Cars, which has set its sights on driving privacy for consumers in the automotive sector, developed the concept and, upon further testing, realized the signal could be used beyond vehicles to most consumer devices that collect, store, and share data that are paired wirelessly. Further research showed that the apps running on those devices could also listen to the OptOutCode.

"Global Privacy Control showed it is possible to create binding opt-out mechanisms on browsers, but the average American household has 22 IoTs and consumers spend over 5 hours a day on apps or online outside of browsers, for which there was no simple way for consumers to opt out," said Andrea Amico, Privacy4Cars founder. "OptOutCode allows consumers to just make one small update to their devices' names to tell hundreds of companies who make apps and devices that their data is not for sale. We're elated that the Colorado Department of Law has shortlisted OptOutCode for its public list, and hope more states will recognize OptOutCode. As a parent, taking 30 seconds to rename my kids' devices so AdTech, data brokers, and the digital lurkers can't microtarget and influence them would be a no-brainer."

For more information, or to learn more about the concept and its supporting organizations, please visit: https://optoutcode.com.

ABOUT PRIVACY4CARS

Privacy4Cars is the first and only privacy-tech company focused on the automotive ecosystem. Its mission, Driving Privacy, means leading research and building solutions that expand protections for individuals and companies alike, by focusing on privacy, safety, security, and compliance.

Privacy4Cars' patented AutoCleared™ has been used in more than one million vehicles to efficiently manage, execute, and log the deletion of personal information from cars (phone numbers, call logs, location history, garage door codes, and more). Its Vehicle Privacy Report™ tool is a first-of-its-kind solution for privacy disclosures. Both are free to consumers and a solution for businesses seeking to grow trust, engagement, and compliance standards through privacy. For more information, please visit: https://privacy4cars.com.

SOURCE Privacy4Cars