Well, that didn’t last long. A few days ago, we told you about how Microsoft was building the upcoming version of Internet Explorer with a do-not-track feature built right in as a default. This made a lot of people in the online advertising world who kind of rely on the ability to track in order to sustain their business. One could also not be blamed for interpreting Microsoft’s actions as a not-so-subtle jab at arch rival Google, which, after all, is ultimately an advertising company that offers enticements like search and Gmail to lure you in.
Anyway: NEVER MIND. The latest write-up of IE10 does NOT have do-not-track as a default setting, although one can enable it if one chooses (most people will never even think about it).
Here’s something interesting about “Do Not Track”: it doesn’t stop tracking.
Do Not Track doesn’t attempt to block cookies — instead it is a browser setting that sends a message to every website you visit saying you prefer not to be tracked. That flag is currently optional for sites and web advertising firms to obey, but it’s gaining momentum with Twitter embracing it late last month.
The proposal also has the backing of the FTC, which has grown deeply skeptical of the online ad industry’s willingness to play fairly with users and has threatened to call for online privacy legislation. After initially opposing the idea, the online ad industry is now seeking to soothe the feds by hammering out rules that aren’t too tough on data collection. The hope then is that not many users avail themselves of the tool, and then not much has to change in how ad companies build profiles of users in order to sell premium-priced targeted ads.
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