Firefox backs 'Do Not Track' with online stealth

[MrBrian]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101219...ooglemicrosoft

[hawki]

Mozilla denies Firefox 4 'do-not-track' privacy option

Firefox 4 will not include a 'do not track' privacy option to block targeted advertising, according to the web browser's maker Mozilla.

... Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that Firefox 4 would not have the option, which is technologically difficult to implement.

"We have been investigating [the option], but so far we haven't found a way of combining a 'do not track' option with a good user experience," Nitot said.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security...ion-40091255/?

[safeguy]

Firefox already allows users to block some forms of behavioural advertising, Nitot said. Firefox extensions including NoScript — a Flash, Java, and JavaScript blocker — and Adblock Plus can mitigate tracking. Users can also sign up to Taco, an opt-out list that advertisers voluntarily follow, Nitot added. These plug-ins will be also available with Firefox 4.

True. We still have tools at our disposal if we want/need them. It's what I call "user-choice".

[DasFox]

Ghostery pretty much takes care of tracking right now...

[tlu]

The latest versions of AdblockPlus and Noscript support X-Do-Not-Track - see http://hackademix.net/2010/12/28/x-d...t-in-noscript/

[m00nbl00d]

Is it hard for Mozilla do it, due to user experience, or they just don't want to for another reason? Heck, IE9 will have such option.

I ask, because, well... since when does blocking tracking cripple user experience? In years, my relatives and I have not experienced such situations. I guess we've been lucky.

But, I guess since it's Mozilla/Firefox it's OK. If it was Microsoft saying it, oh... all hell would break lose.

The funny side:

Firefox already allows users to block some forms of behavioural advertising, Nitot said. Firefox extensions including NoScript — a Flash, Java, and JavaScript blocker — and Adblock Plus can mitigate tracking. Users can also sign up to Taco, an opt-out list that advertisers voluntarily follow, Nitot added. These plug-ins will be also available with Firefox 4.

Why funny? Well, they won't implement it, themselves, in Firefox 4 due to user experience, but it is OK for "user experience" to be "broken" by those extensions Makes any sense Not to me...

[JRViejo]

Mozilla, the developer of the Firefox browser, is working a feature that will allow users to opt-out of online behavioral advertising.

The goal is to give users "a deeper understanding of and control over personal information online," Mozilla's head of privacy said in a blog posted on Sunday.

The feature will allow users to configure their Firefox browser to tell websites and advertisers that they would like to opt-out of any advertising based on their behavior, Alex Fowler [cq] wrote in his blog post. The user's preference is communicated to websites and third party ad servers using a new "Do Not Track HTTP header", which is sent with every click or page view in Firefox.

Computerworld Article by Mikael Ricknäs.

[JRViejo]

A day after Mozilla said it was exploring a "Do Not Track" feature for Firefox, Google today announced a Chrome add-on that lets users opt out of tracking cookies that monitor their movement and behavior online.

One privacy expert called Google's new extension a "marginal improvement," but applauded the browser maker for jumping into the privacy discussion.

Chrome's "Keep My Opt-Outs" add-on leverages the self-regulation efforts by the online advertising industry to let users permanently opt out of ad tracking from the companies that participate in various programs, including the Network Advertising Initiative, said Google in a blog post Monday morning.

Google jumps into 'Do Not Track' debate with Chrome add-on by Gregg Keizer.

[JRViejo]

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