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Apple Removes Useless 'Do Not Track' Feature From Latest Beta Versions of Safari (macrumors.com)

Posted by msmash on from the for-the-record dept.

In the release notes for Safari 12.1, the new version of Apple's browser installed in iOS 12.2, Apple says that it is removing support for the "Do Not Track" feature, which is now outdated. From a news writeup: "Removed support for the expired Do Not Track standard to prevent potential use as a fingerprinting variable," the release note reads. The same feature was also removed from Safari Technology Preview today, Apple's experimental macOS browser, and it is not present in the macOS 10.14.4 betas. According to Apple, Do Not Track is "expired" and support is being eliminated to prevent its use as, ironically, a fingerprinting variable for tracking purposes. It is entirely up to the advertising companies to comply with the "Do Not Track" messaging, and it has no actual function beyond broadcasting a user preference.

1 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Naive by ChatHuant · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No it wasn't. It was a reasonable solution that was intentionally sabotaged by Microsoft.

    Bullshit. It was absolutely not a reasonable solution, and it was not "sabotaged" by Microsoft. It was a publicity stunt by Google and Mozilla, and its goal was to block the pro-consumer design proposed to the W3C by Microsoft. Briefly, the MS proposal boiled down to something like uBlock/AdBlock built directly into the browser. Google couldn't abide this, so they forced the current DNT design through the W3C standardization committee instead.
    Here are a few reasons why this is not a reasonable, pro-consumer design:
      - there is no way for a consumer to enforce their choice against a non-cooperating tracking site
      - there isn't even a way to confirm whether your DNT request was honored or not
      - there is no way to find out in advance whether a certain site will honor DNT at all
      - it's designed as opt-out by default, which is a cynical ploy to profit from the fact that the majority of consumers aren't very technically knowledgeable. Any privacy-related settings should be opt-in by design
    By making the option default to on in IE, Microsoft exposed the uselessness of the "standard". The subsequent spat raised awareness about how much of a lie Google's DNT is. This is a good thing - lies need to be challenged.
    I previously posted some more details on how the alleged standard came to be, with links. I refer you to that post.