What is GPC?

When turned on, the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal is designed to automatically notify the websites you visit – as well as select businesses supporting those websites – of your preference to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, as well as its use for targeted advertising across contexts. By turning GPC on using the NAI Global Privacy Control Tool, your web browser will automatically make a GPC signal available to the websites you interact with through your web browser, as well as select businesses supporting those websites. The NAI is offering this tool to provide you with an easy way to turn GPC on or off for your web browser. For more information about GPC, visit www.globalprivacycontrol.org. 

What happens when a website I visit sees my GPC signal?

For residents of some states, select businesses are required by law to honor the preference you express using GPC when they see a valid signal.  Your rights may vary depending on which state you live in. In some states, businesses that see your GPC signal turned on are required to treat it as a request by you to opt out of their sale or sharing of your personal information, or its use across contexts for targeted advertising purposes.  Please be aware that in most states, the law exempts first parties from the requirement to opt you out of their use of the personal information they collect to personalize advertising when they detect a GPC signal (for more information, see “What are GPC’s Limitations” below).  The NAI does not control how businesses that receive your GPC signal read or respond to it.  

What are GPC’s Limitations?

Because GPC sends a signal only from the browser you are currently using, you may also need to exercise your opt out rights on other web browsers or internet-connected devices you use.  Not every business operating online will be able to receive the GPC signal sent by your browser in every circumstance.  

Some state laws require businesses that receive your GPC signal to honor it by opting you out of personal information sales, sharing, and use across contexts for targeted advertising; but other states have not made this a legal requirement.  Therefore, the effect of turning your GPC signal on may vary based on your state residency.

GPC is not designed to invoke every privacy right you may have in every jurisdiction. For example, GPC is not intended to opt you out of a business’s use of your sensitive personal information in a first-party context, a right you may have under California law.  Neither does GPC signal a request for a business to delete your personal information – if you want a business to delete your personal information, you will have to manually make a request with each business.

In addition, while GPC does signal your preference to opt out of the use of your personal information across contexts for “targeted advertising” as defined by some state laws, some of the ads you see online may still be targeted to you based on your personal information, depending on who collected your personal information and where the ad is shown. For example, GPC is not intended to opt you out of ad personalization by a website you are visiting based on personal information they collect from you within the first-party context (such as a news website targeting ads to you on its website based on your previous interactions with the business operating the site, whether online or offline).  For more information on what the GPC signal is intended to convey to businesses online, please refer to https://privacycg.github.io/gpc-spec. 

Will turning GPC on impact my browsing experience?

Regardless of whether you turn on GPC, you may still see ads online.  However, turning on GPC may result in the ads you see being less relevant to your interests because it may limit how some businesses use information about you to select which ads to show you. Many websites that you visit online rely on advertising to fund your free access to their content, and by turning on GPC and limiting how they use and share information about you for certain advertising purposes, you may limit their ability to provide free, ad-supported content. 

What is the NAI?

Founded in 2000, the NAI is the leading non-profit, self-regulatory association for advertising technology companies. For over 20 years, the NAI has promoted strong consumer privacy protections, a free and open internet, and a robust digital advertising industry by maintaining and enforcing the highest voluntary industry standards for the responsible collection and use of consumer data. Our member companies range from small startups to the largest companies in the industry, and they collectively represent a substantial portion of the digital advertising technology ecosystem. For more information on the NAI, visit www.thenai.org.