IE9 To Include Tracking Protection

On December 1, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission issued a major report discussing consumer privacy online. In the report, the FTC advocated the use of a “Do Not Track” mechanism governing the collection of information about consumer’s Internet activity. Specifically, the FTC suggested the use of a “persistent setting, similar to a cookie, on the consumer’s browser signaling the consumer’s choices about being tracked and receiving targeted ads.” In the wake of that report, Microsoft announced a new feature to be included in version 9 of Internet Explorer. Although still in development, IE9 will include a opt-in mechanism (“Tracking Protection”) to identify and block many forms of undesired tracking as well as a “Tracking Protection Lists” will enable consumers to control what third-party site content can track them when they’re online.