The default has never changed from the point of view of the user. The default is "don't steal my data". DNT was just reflecting the reality of the situation: user not making a choice indicates they don't want you to steal their data.
> DNT was just reflecting the reality of the situation: user not making a choice indicates they don't want you to steal their data.
Advertisers don't need a header telling them what they should do by default. They can get that information from elsewhere. DNT was going to be a way to opt-out, and some advertisers promised to listen to that. Setting DNT without user action removes the "opt".
But that's not what DoNotTrack was. It was supposed to show specific intent. It wasn't there to change the default.
So by removing the intent, the fragile agreement broke entirely.
If you want to change the default, you need something that can be enforced.