The Internet’s best hope for a Do Not Track standard is falling apart. Here’s why.

Should businesses be forced to stop tracking your movements on the Internet?

It sounds like a simple question. But judging by the growing despair among members of a diverse group assigned by a standards body to resolve just this issue, the answer is hardly clear. The task force itself is deeply divided; in a member survey completed Wednesday, half of respondents — albeit a minority of the entire working group — said the negotiations weren't working and should be abandoned.

"This proceeding is so flawed — it's a farce," wrote Jeffrey Chester, executive director of a privacy group involved in the talks, in a comment. "Global online users deserve better."

The working group is affiliated with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the official custodian of Web standards. It was initially brought together to develop a negotiated approach to online behavioral tracking. The collection of ad companies, privacy advocates and outside experts were supposed to settle a longstanding debate about consumer privacy and help determine the future of advertising technology.

But what began as cautious engagement among these groups has devolved into open revolt against the process.