With the Data Privacy day coming on the soon, on January 28th, Microsoft talks about the complexity of online Privacy, the Tracking protection in IE9, and the work that are doing with local entity to comply with local expectations and sensibilities.
Since the release of Internet explorer 9, most reviews had praised the improvements and the adaptation of web standards that Microsoft introduced with IE9, but the area where IE9 is trying to be distinguishably superior compare to its competitors is privacy. Built-in features like tracking protection and the tracking protection lists (TPL) are ways that Microsoft ensures users’ privacy are protected.
Talking at the Digital Life Design, Dean Hachamovich, the head of the Windows Internet explorer team, talked about the challenge and complexity of online privacy and some of the feature that Microsoft has introduced with IE9 to ensure that online users’ activities are secured which were also highlighted in the Internet Explorer official web blog by Ryan Gavin.
“Tracking Protection is critical since of all the potential privacy issues, being tracked across sites as you browse is the one that comes up most consistently. Tracking Protection actually blocks the information that some sites can use to track you, relying on the information in Tracking Protection Lists. It enforces specific user preferences” write Ryan in the IE blog.
While there are other forms of features that users can rely on to protect their online privacy such as adds-on and the Do-not-track, he explains the limit of these features particularly the do-not-track that he talks about. “Do Not Track today is an honor system. A consumer hopes that sites honor his or her request to not be tracked. What sites must do to honor that request or not, is still under discussion, as is who monitors and enforces that, and how. Some people have been that’s not enough, which is why we continue to focus heavily on advancing Tracking Protection.” he explains.
Already the W3C is already working to establish the Tracking Protection as standard to be adopted by all browser makers, Ryan also talks about the momentum that the IE team is seeing with in increased of tracking protection lists. He explains that “When we first released IE9, five tracking protection lists were available. Now, nine months later, there are over twenty lists worldwide from six different groups. For example, the EasyList project is an open community effort to help filter unwanted content. It is available as a Tracking Protection List here. They have had over 250,000 subscriptions to their list. You can find other lists at www.iegallery.com.
And to show their commitment to work privacy to tackle the complexity of online privacy worldwide and local entities, Microsoft has work with leading privacy advocate Alexander Hanff and Simon Davis who explains said that “Tracking Protection has huge potential and is a powerful tool for enhancing consumer privacy, but to build consumer trust it needs serious browser-level commitment. Alex and I were delighted when Microsoft decided to heavily invest in the technology since it has empowered independent parties like us to author Tracking Protections Lists knowing that the broader community will be able to take advantage of verifiable tracking protection from organizations they trust. Furthermore, we’ve also customized a copy of Internet Explorer 9 to make it easier for others to find and use our Tracking Protection Lists.”
Ryan explains while online the complexity of online privacy is increasing with new method such as “the convergence of website and applications”, he explains, but Microsoft and its partners will continuously working to ensure that users’ privacy are protected with IE9.
Further reading: Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft