Microsoft To Stop Enabling 'Do Not Track' By Default

An anonymous reader writes: The history of the do-not-track setting for web browsers has been rife with debate. It took a long time for web experts to come to anything resembling a consensus on how it should be implemented, and the process isn't over yet. Microsoft took criticism for enabling the do-not-track setting by default in Internet Explorer. While it sounds good in theory, many worried it would just spur websites to completely disregard the setting (and some, like Yahoo, did just that). Now, Microsoft has reversed their stance. The do-not-track setting will not be enabled by default in the company's future browsers. They say, "Put simply, we are updating our approach to DNT to eliminate any misunderstanding about whether our chosen implementation will comply with the W3C standard. ... As a result, DNT will not be the default state in Windows Express Settings moving forward, but we will provide customers with clear information on how to turn this feature on in the browser settings should they wish to do so."

Comments

Re:How many sites actually honor DNT?

[QuasiSteve]

But instead, Microsoft set it automatically in their browsers, prompting most websites to ignore it, since it no longer meant anything.

It never meant anything anyway, but that as an aside...

No, Microsoft did not 'automatically' set it. Though that may depend on one's definition of 'automatic'.

Does an installer 'automatically' install adware, if you miss unchecking the option "Install Slowbar for Chrome"?
If yes - you have a point.

If no - then there wasn't anything automatic about it. Enabling Do Not Track in IE was one of the settings explicitly listed in the Express Settings screen, and users could certainly choose the Customize option to disable it.
http://core0.staticworld.net/i...

The W3C, after Yahoo's complaints, decided to clarify that it should be the user's choice.

Of course the next question then becomes whether opt-out still implies a user choice just as much as opt-in would be.
I.e. did the user actually read that line, did they actually understand what it meant, and did they consciously decide to continue with the Express Install with said understanding in mind? If yes, then the user made the choice.
If no, then it could be argued that Microsoft had made the choice for the user.

But even if that is the case - is that a bad thing? To draw a parallel - almost every browser now blocks pop-ups. By default. Without even asking the user if they want this behavior. Do you honestly think that if there were an X-Do-Not-Popup header, sites would honor this setting - and we would now not be subjected to pseudo-popups (content inserted into the DOM and drawn on the center of the browser client window)? And do you blame browser makes for making the choice for the users regardless?

Maybe Microsoft did deliberately sabotage it - but I welcome their sabotage as it merely accelerated the natural process.

Re:How many sites actually honor DNT?

[0123456]

So you're claiming that there are people who actually want to be tracked wherever they go on the Internet?

Oh, you must work for an advertising company, right?