Expanded privacy features for Internet Explorer 8 will allow users to surf the web anonymously, making it harder for online advertisers to track user history.
Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator
Microsoft has confirmed that its new browser upgrade Internet Explorer 8, currently in beta testing, will have four new privacy features for its users. Collectively, these tools will allow web surfers to significantly protect themselves from others tracking their trail of visited sites. InPrivate Browsing, one of IE8’s four new features, offers users the choice of clearing the browser’s cache at the end of each session, while Delete Browsing History will allow users to control the browsing history after visiting each site. The other two corresponding features are a significant threat to online advertisers. The cookies, tracking pixels and code that enable sites to trace user actions can be blocked by IE8’s InPrivate Blocking tool. The final feature, InPrivate Subscription, informs users when their browser history is being tracked by third-parties and then allows them to subscribe to block lists.
Although these features are new and expanded for Internet Explorer 8, they are certainly not new to the current browsers of today. The difference, however, is that users are typically not aware of the features that are in place to prevent third-parties from tracking their browsing history or how to utilize them to their benefit. Through IE8, Microsoft will facilitate a user-friendly medium in which users will feel more knowledgeable, confident and proactive in taking control of their tracking privacy online.
Joe Zeigler, IE8 program manager, said the following about the new features, "privacy has two aspects: disclosure and choice. Disclosure means informing users in plain language about the data collected about them and how it’s used. Choice means putting users in control of their data and giving them tools to protect it."
