No cookies for you
The upcoming release of Microsoft Internet Explorer, IE8, includes features that could make online advertisers' jobs more difficult.
Its feature set includes expanded privacy features that better empower users to delete browsing history and cookies, making them tougher to track. (In the past, all browsers have had these capabilities, but users were typically unaware of them.)
Notably, IE8 includes InPrivate Browsing, which clears the browser cache at the end of a user's session. Accompanying tools include InPrivate Blocking, which blocks cookies, tracking pixels and code that enable sites to track user activity; and InPrivate Subscription, which tells users about third-party content that tracks browsing history, then subscribes them to block lists.
For IE8, "we took a hard look at our customers' concerns about privacy on the web," wrote IE program manager Andy Zeigler on the team blog. "Many users are concerned about so-called over-the-shoulder privacy […] If you are using a shared PC, a borrowed laptop from a friend or a public PC, sometimes you don't want other people to know where you've been."
The service is currently in beta for web developers and designers.
Internet Explorer remains the most popular browser used to access the web. Rival Mozilla is also preparing a privacy-rich release of its Firefox browser, expected to debut in early 2009.
Last year a Firefox plugin called Adblock Plus caused a mild ruckus among ad-supported sites, whose ads could not be viewed by users with the app enabled. Blocking ads on otherwise-free sites was compared by some to content theft. In retaliation, some sites attempted to block Firefox users altogether.