IE 9's Privacy Push
I've been spending a lot of time thinking about IE 9, as I just finished the January cover story for Redmond on the IE 9 beta. Actually you, the "Redmond Report" reader, really wrote it. The story is what we call a "Reader Review." Instead of me or some lab rat putting the software through the paces, I reached out to IT pros for a real-world view. Usually about a dozen of you volunteer to help, and for that you have my undying gratitude.
With IE 9, Microsoft will be changing it up when it comes to privacy. IE 8 offered what's called InPrivate browsing, which leaves no trace of where you've gone on the 'Net and what you've done, perfect for a criminal, philanderer, or teen. Oh, and those of us that simply desire privacy like it as well.
IE 9 furthers the privacy push with a new feature that blocks third-party advertisers from tracking your moves, thus targeting you with ad after stinkin' ad.
According to Microsoft, Tracking Protection, which must be explicitly activated, will go beyond cookie blocking. It depends on community efforts to create tracking protection lists -- kind of like creating antivirus signatures based on real-world viruses or building blacklists of known rogue Web sites. Tracking Protection will work off lists created by third parties.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/10/2010 at 1:18 PM