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How to Enable DNT

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Important Limitation

DNT is a voluntary signal. Most advertising networks and trackers ignore it entirely. For effective privacy protection, use browser extensions like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger alongside DNT.

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About

The Do Not Track (DNT) signal is an HTTP header field (DNT) that transmits a user's tracking preference to websites. When enabled, browsers send DNT = 1 with each request, signaling that the user opts out of behavioral tracking. The critical limitation: DNT is voluntary. No legal framework mandates compliance in most jurisdictions. Major advertising networks including Google and Facebook ignore DNT entirely. The W3C Tracking Protection Working Group closed in 2019 without achieving industry adoption. Apple removed DNT from Safari in 2019 citing its ineffectiveness and potential use as a fingerprinting vector. This tool reads your browser's navigator.doNotTrack property to display your current configuration. It cannot modify your settings. Understanding your DNT status matters for privacy audits and compliance documentation. The absence of DNT is not equivalent to consent for tracking. Many privacy-conscious users combine DNT with content blockers and strict cookie policies for layered protection.

Formulas

The Do Not Track signal is transmitted as an HTTP request header:

DNT: 1 (enabled) | 0 (disabled) | null (not configured)

JavaScript detection follows a cascade pattern for cross-browser compatibility:

status = navigator.doNotTrack || window.doNotTrack || navigator.msDoNotTrack

Where navigator.doNotTrack returns a string value: "1", "0", "yes", "no", or null. Legacy implementations used "yes"/"no" before W3C standardization. The msDoNotTrack property exists for Internet Explorer 9-10 compatibility.

Reference Data

Browser	DNT Support	API Property	Default State	Notes
Chrome 23+	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	User must enable in Settings → Privacy
Firefox 4+	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	Enhanced Tracking Protection separate feature
Edge 12+	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	Chromium-based since Edge 79
Safari 7.1-12.0	Removed	N/A	N/A	Removed in Safari 12.1 (2019)
Internet Explorer 9+	Yes	`navigator.msDoNotTrack`	Enabled (IE10)	IE10 shipped with DNT on by default
Opera 12+	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	Chromium-based, follows Chrome behavior
Brave	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	Ships with aggressive blocking by default
Tor Browser	No	N/A	Disabled	Intentionally disabled to reduce fingerprinting
Vivaldi	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	Configurable in Privacy settings
Samsung Internet	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Not Set	Android mobile browser
iOS Safari	Removed	N/A	N/A	Removed with iOS 12.2
Firefox Focus	Yes	`navigator.doNotTrack`	Enabled	Privacy-focused mobile browser

Frequently Asked Questions

DNT is a voluntary standard with no legal enforcement in most countries. The W3C Tracking Protection Working Group disbanded in 2019 without achieving binding compliance. Major ad networks profit from tracking and have no incentive to honor DNT. Only the European GDPR and California's CCPA provide limited legal backing, but enforcement remains rare.

Minimally. Research by Electronic Frontier Foundation found that fewer than 10% of websites respect DNT. However, some privacy-respecting services like Medium, Pinterest, and DuckDuckGo do honor the signal. DNT works best as part of layered defense: combine it with uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and strict cookie settings for meaningful protection.

Apple removed DNT in Safari 12.1 (2019) because it paradoxically reduced privacy. Since few users enabled DNT, the signal became a fingerprinting vector - sites could identify the small percentage of DNT users as a distinctive group. Apple replaced DNT with Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), which blocks trackers algorithmically without revealing user preferences.

GPC is DNT's successor with legal teeth. While DNT was purely voluntary, GPC transmits a legally-binding signal under California's CCPA and Colorado's CPA. Businesses in these jurisdictions must treat GPC as a valid opt-out request. GPC uses the header Sec-GPC: 1 and is supported in Firefox, Brave, and DuckDuckGo browsers.

Yes. The navigator.doNotTrack property is readable by any JavaScript on the page. Ironically, this creates a 1-bit fingerprinting signal. Users with DNT enabled represent roughly 8-12% of traffic, making them a distinguishable minority. This was a primary reason the Tor Browser intentionally disables DNT - uniformity provides better anonymity than individual preference signals.