Firefox backs 'Do Not Track' with online stealth

Physorg Internet Software ^ | December 19, 2010 | Glenn Chapman

[LucyT]

"Technology that supports something like a 'Do Not Track' button is needed and we will deliver in the first part of next year," Mozilla chief executive Gary Kovacs said while providing a glimpse at Firefox 4 at the Mozilla's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

"The user needs to be in control," he added.

There is a disturbing imbalance between what websites need to know about visitors to personalize advertisements or services and the amount of data collected, according to Kovacs.

[LucyT]

As concern about online privacy grows, Mozilla is promising to let people cloak Internet activity in free Firefox Web browsing software being released early next year.

[UB355]

Does not IE8 InPrivate Browsing and InPrivate Filtering do the same thing ?

[dila813]

Not the same.

If too many people click the button this could be a significant issue for Internet companies. Many depend on tracking for even minor features.

[mikrofon]

In the meantime, this add-on may be helpful.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Thank you!

[bigbob]

Wouldn’t it make sense for “Do not track” to be the default, and that you’d have to enable tracking instead of the other way around?

[PeteCat]

I’ve had good results with Ghostery in Firefox

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9609/#reviews

[Calvin Locke]

Firefox has (or via an add on) a "private browsing" feature.

I used it a couple of times, and from what I remember, it can be quite
annoying to deal with it not keeping track of histories and the like
that would be handy to keep around for the session.

[Spirochete]

These Firefox add-ons are good:

Noscript
CookieSafe
Better Privacy
Ghostery
Googlesharing
Adblock Plus
Refcontrol
OptimizeGoogle
Geasemonkey (w/ Google anonymizer & Google tracking B-gone scripts)

[skinkinthegrass]

thanks, for the information / post.
....Kewl! 8D

[epithermal]

For the really paranoid I suggest Tor:

https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/index.html.en

But if you decide to allow your PC to be a Tor exit node I suggest you read this first: Why you need balls of steel to operate a Tor exit node

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I find that the Ghostery extension/ad-on does a creditable job in reporting on what sites are tracking with what tool and allowing me to block them effectively. Even Google. Plus using the Google Sharing extension helps too.

[ken21]

tor enabled on my win 7

produces a proxy server error

and, thus, no connection.

[xp38]

Clint agrees its mighty stealthy but you must think in Russian

[bannie]

WOW! Thanks mik! Great site! I’ve sent it on to family.

Bless you!

[Chode]

thx...

[ShadowAce]

[Still Thinking]

If too many people click the button this could be a significant issue for Internet companies. Many depend on tracking for even minor features.

Not really. Either the features NECESSARILY depend on tracking or they do so because the website is either greedy for additional information or too lazy to code it a less intrusive way. In the first case, necessity, the user will have to choose between the tracking and the feature, which was always the case. This software will simply allow them to implement their choice. In the second case, the site owners will recode if they want to keep the users/offer the features.

[dila813]

FTC Testifies on Do Not Track Legislation

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/12/dnttestimony.shtm

Pressing the do not track button adds you to the do not track list and identifies you to the site as being on this opt out list.

Didn’t think everyone would be so pro-federal government on this stuff.

[Still Thinking]

You made a technical prediction that I think was incorrect and I told you why. How does that equate to an expression of support?