IE10 Will Have 'Do Not Track' On By Default 181
An anonymous reader writes "As Microsoft released the preview of the next version of its Internet Explorer browser, news that in Windows 8 the browser will be sending a 'Do Not Track' signal to Web sites by default must have shaken online advertising giants. 'Consumers can change this default setting if they choose,' Microsoft noted, but added that this decision reflects their commitment to providing Windows customers an experience that is 'private by default' in an era when so much user data is collected online.' This step will make Internet Explorer 10 the first web browser with DNT on by default. And while the websites are not required to comply with the users' do-not-track request, the DNT initiative — started by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission — is making good progress."
Who's DNT are they honoring? (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry, but Windows has phoned home for at least 10 years, and sent data without user knowledge to 3rd party companies that could be traced to MS. IE may claim to have DNT on by default, but let's be clear. You will still be sending all kinds of tracking information to MS.
Seems to me to be a ploy to make money selling data to Google perhaps that Google gets now on their own.
Re:OK but... (Score:5, Informative)
Sounds to me like this will end up like the internet version of the "Do Not Call" list.
Ask my family on how that one worked out.
It seems to be working pretty well to me. I still get some unsolicited calls, but probably about 10% of what I got before NDNC. Most of the remaining calls are from charities and political polling organizations which are exempted from NDNC.
Re:Pass... IE 8 and 9 sucked. (Score:2, Informative)
Google will find a way to break it (Score:5, Informative)
They hacked Safari's privacy measures previously.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/google-tricked-apples-saf_n_1284551.html [huffingtonpost.com]
They also ignored IE's p3p setting.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2012/02/20/google-bypassing-user-privacy-settings.aspx [msdn.com]
Expect Google fanboys/employees to slag MS for protecting the users' privacy in the comments.
Yep, MS is derailing the whole process. (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah, both the FTC guidelines [ftc.gov] and the current W3C DNT draft [w3.org] both state that users should opt-out of tracking, not opt-in. Furthermore, the advertizing industry groups like that have had the most successful with self-regulation efforts [aboutads.info] have flat-out said that while they will respect the user's chose to opt-out, they will ignore any system that opts users out automatically.
Microsoft's decision here is completely counter productive. At best, it means that sites will add code to ignore theDNT header if the UA is IE. At worst it will derail the entire process.