Dan Goodin reports:
Microsoft says it will offer a privacy setting in the next version of Internet Explorer that will make it easy for users to keep their browsing habits from being tracked by advertising networks and other third-party websites.
The feature, known as Tracking Protection, was unveiled on Tuesday, five days after the Federal Trade Commission, the US government’s top consumer-protection agency, proposed that browsers be equipped with a “do not track” option that prevents websites and advertisers from compiling data about people’s web-browsing habits.
Read more in The Register. Microsoft’s announcement was posted on its blog this afternoon.
Within hours of the announcement, Tony Bradley reported “IE9 ‘Do Not Track’ Feature Prone to User Error.” Bradley’s main point seems to be that it takes a bit of time and savvy for users to configure the feature.
Over on slight paranoia, Chris Soghoian tosses in a number of zingers at Microsoft and others, but summarizes his thoughts on this latest announcement by saying that it is a “great, pro-privacy and strategically savvy move on Microsoft’s part.”