Do Not Track: has Microsoft outwitted competitors Google and Facebook?

JMH · Aug 15, 2012

With a deft side step, Microsoft appears to have outflanked Do Not Track opponents, like Google and Facebook who depend on tracking for their advertising.
In a recent Microsoft blog post, Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch explained how IE10 would handle Do Not Track preferences:

DNT will be enabled in the "Express Settings" portion of the Windows 8 set-up experience. There, customers will also be given a “Customize” option, allowing them to easily switch DNT "off" if they'd like.

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/201...Feed:+nakedsecurity+(Naked+Security+-+Sophos)

zigzag3143 · Aug 15, 2012

Nice find thanks. DH

Kosh Vorlon · Aug 15, 2012

That will be most welcome. I hope they will find a way to offer that feature to those of us stuck further in the past (prior to W8 & IE10) since that will remain to be a LOT of people for quite some time - preferably back to Vista & IE8.

Corrine · Aug 15, 2012

Windows Vista users should be updated to IE9 which has the DNT feature via optional Tracking Protection Lists.

Kosh Vorlon · Aug 15, 2012

Yes, I've been using the Albine add-on from the listing at http://www.iegallery.com/en-US/trackingprotectionlists with IE9 in Vista.

I had assumed the one being discussed in IE10 would be more tightly integrated and provide more customization, more options, a better maintained list that covered more than those currently available, and require less "overhead" - but perhaps I was reading more into the article than was there.

If it's no better than what already exists, why would MSFT have bothered to present it as a specific IE10 improvement?

Corrine · Aug 15, 2012

My guess is that it will be something along the lines of the Mozilla Firefox "Do Not Track" which is an opt-out of online behavioral advertising (OBA) by transmitting a Do Not Track HTTP header every time data is requested from the Web. With Firefox, this header notifies the website that the visitor wants to opt-out of third-party tracking for behavioral advertising.

AceInfinity · Aug 15, 2012

This is actually interesting, i'd be curious to see how this all unfolds.

Search

Search

Do Not Track: has Microsoft outwitted competitors Google and Facebook?

JMH

Emeritus, Contributor

zigzag3143

Contributor, Sysnative Staff Emeritus

Kosh Vorlon

Contributor

Corrine

Administrator,
Microsoft MVP,
Security Analyst

Kosh Vorlon

Contributor

Corrine

Administrator,
Microsoft MVP,
Security Analyst

AceInfinity

Emeritus, Contributor

Do Not Track: has Microsoft outwitted competitors Google and Facebook?

JMH

Emeritus, Contributor

zigzag3143

Contributor, Sysnative Staff Emeritus

Kosh Vorlon

Contributor

Corrine

Administrator, Microsoft MVP, Security Analyst

Kosh Vorlon

Contributor

Corrine

Administrator, Microsoft MVP, Security Analyst

AceInfinity

Emeritus, Contributor

Administrator,
Microsoft MVP,
Security Analyst

Administrator,
Microsoft MVP,
Security Analyst