The Verge - Internet Explorer 10's Do Not Track default: flouting web standards in the name of privacy

Yahoo 'will not recognize' Internet Explorer 10's default Do Not Track setting

2012-10-26T21:39:45Z

Microsoft was warned that its decision to enable Do Not Track (DNT) by default in Windows 8's Internet Explorer 10 would encourage web content providers to ignore the request to keep advertisers from following user's movements around the web, and those predictions are becoming very true. Yahoo has just published its thoughts on the matter, and in the blog post says that it "will not recognize IE10’s default DNT signal on Yahoo! properties at this time." The company cites that the DNT standard has not been finalized, and that Microsoft's decision "degrades the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them."

Yahoo is quick to point out that 'In principle, we support "Do Not Track,'"...

Do Not Track: an uncertain future for the web's most ambitious privacy initiative

2012-10-12T16:00:20Z

Following months of relative quiet on the subject of Do Not Track — an HTTP header that tells advertisers and other third parties not to follow you around the internet — the controversial browser signal is being thrust back into the limelight. After the W3C's recent face-to-face meeting in Amsterdam, the the Digital Advertising Alliance plainly said that it "does not require companies to honor DNT," effectively saying it intends to stick to its own self-regulatory approach to user privacy. Much of the renewed interest stems from Microsoft's controversial decision to turn Do Not Track on by default in Windows 8's Internet Explorer 10, and Adobe engineer Roy Fielding's subsequent decision to take a sledgehammer to the Apache web server,...

Microsoft's default Do Not Track in IE10 gets shot down by Apache co-founder

2012-09-11T05:10:35Z

Microsoft has been warned that its decision to enable Do Not Track (DNT) by default in Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8 violates the specification of the standard, and that it faces the risk of websites simply ignoring its setting. Now, the warnings are coming to fruition, with a recent commit to the code base for the Apache webserver that deals with the IE10 setting by simply overwriting it, reports Wired. The patch is part of the most recent stable version of Apache, the open source server software behind some 60 percent of sites on the web.

During the Windows 8 installation process, users are presented with a choice between default system settings (called Express) and a more customized setup. At issue is whether showing users the...

Microsoft persists with Do Not Track default in IE10, builds it into Windows 8 setup

2012-08-08T08:08:18Z

The last we heard about Microsoft's intention to enable Do Not Track flags in Internet Explorer 10 by default, the W3C, the authority behind the entire DNT spec, was advising the Redmond company to make it a user option rather than a preset. This was mostly down to the fear that many websites may choose to disregard Do Not Track instructions from a browser that is automatically set to send them out — web content providers are more willing to respect user preferences when a user performs some action to express them. Such has been the W3C's reasoning, however Microsoft's consumer research has corroborated its expectation that most people prefer to have an aggressive set of privacy controls enabled in their browser by default.

Microsoft...

IE 10 must let users decide whether to turn Do Not Track on or not, says latest DNT draft spec

2012-06-07T08:57:15Z

Microsoft's plans to enable Do Not Track flags in Internet Explorer 10 by default have taken a setback this week as the latest draft of the DNT specification explicitly states that the user must be given the choice. You might recall that the original W3C proposal for Do Not Track was actually titled "Tracking Preference Expression," and this latest revision to its wording is reflecting the importance placed on those words — the sending of Do Not Track signals to websites from your browser must only happen as a direct expression of your will. Thus, any browser that defaults to either enabling or disabling DNT without asking the user to choose which she prefers is in breach of the spec as it currently stands.

Microsoft is still free to...

Internet Explorer 10 first browser to have Do Not Track as default

2012-06-01T18:23:47Z

Amid the coverage of the Windows 8 Release Preview, Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 10 will be the first web browser to have Do Not Track (DNT) enabled by default. DNT is currently available as an option in most browsers that allows users to opt out of behavioral tracking, but it is not yet universally heeded by advertisers. Even though groups like the Digital Advertising Alliance are displeased about the announcement, Microsoft's Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch recognizes the value in personalized ads for companies and consumers alike. Lynch explains the reasoning behind the decision in a blog post, saying, "we've made today's decision because we believe in putting people first. We believe that consumers should...