Microsoft embraces “Do Not Track” in Internet Explorer 10

It’s called ” Do Not Track “that special extra field inserted in the HTTP requests that the web browser sends whenever you connect to a remote web server and allows to express their refusal to the collection of personal information. Originally proposed in 2009 by researchers Christopher Soghoian, Sid Stamm and Dan Kaminsky, the additional header (“header”) ” Do Not Track “is currently being considered by the W3C which is considering the approval as a standard.

The mechanism proposed by Soghoian trio-Stamm-Kaminsky is far from perfect: it is essential, first, that the web browser you are using allows Enable the ” Do Not Track “and that the web site with which you connected media a system managed by a third party cookie blocking. Mozilla Firefox is the browser that currently provides to communicate to all its web sites will not be traced: to enable ” Do Not Track “, access the menu Tools (callable pressing the ALT key), Options , click on the tab Privacy and then tick the box Enable the anti-tracking data in the box tracking .


For now Google Chrome does not yet support ” Do Not Track “even though the feature can be integrated using an appropriate extension and, according to the directions of the company spokesman in Mountain View, should be directly supported by the end of the year.

Apple Safari and Opera, however, already contemplate the possibility of activating the ” Do Not Track “from the browser interface. In the case of Internet Explorer you must click on the button shaped like a small cog, click Security, protection monitoring and set manually a list of sites in relation to which you want to defend or withdraw ( Download a list of sites for protection by monitoring online ) a list of URLs compatible with the security features. The news today is that Microsoft has made ​​it clear that users of Windows 8 , when you first boot the operating system, will have had the opportunity to configure the ” Do Not Track “.

According to the allegations in the last hour, therefore, Internet Explorer 10 fully support the new instrument for the protection of privacy enabling it by default. All those who, at the first performance of Internet Explorer 10, will opt for the quick setup, then automatically receive a ” Do Not Track “. Alternatively, the browser offers the possibility to customize the behavior of all its components, ” Do Not Track “included. It is not known, at least for the moment, when Microsoft intends to publish on the Web the final version of Internet Explorer 10. The only fixed point is the release of Windows 8, which obviously integrates IE10, scheduled for October 26.