Filed under: Microsoft, Browsers
You're probably aware of the fact that Internet Explorer 8 features InPrivate for privacy-enhanced web browsing. It's become a standard feature in modern web browsers, after all. What you might not know, however, is that there was intense debate at Microsoft prior to the release of IE8 -- about whether or not to make private browsing the default.
In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Nick Wingfield talks of Microsoft product planners' desires to make default browsing for IE8 users tracking-free -- unless a user opted in to less-private browsing. Wingfield takes the approach that Microsoft "quashed effort[s] to boost online privacy," I think he misses something fairly important: the fact that this discussion occurred in the first place -- and in Microsoft's offices.
The plan was even beyond InPrivate browsing as it exists in IE8 now. One goal was to keep tabs on third-party code which appeared on more than ten websites visited by a user and then block that code in the future -- under the assumption that it was likely being used to track activity.
In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Nick Wingfield talks of Microsoft product planners' desires to make default browsing for IE8 users tracking-free -- unless a user opted in to less-private browsing. Wingfield takes the approach that Microsoft "quashed effort[s] to boost online privacy," I think he misses something fairly important: the fact that this discussion occurred in the first place -- and in Microsoft's offices.
The plan was even beyond InPrivate browsing as it exists in IE8 now. One goal was to keep tabs on third-party code which appeared on more than ten websites visited by a user and then block that code in the future -- under the assumption that it was likely being used to track activity.
Ultimately, the IE8 decision was influenced by online advertising bigwig Brian McAndrews, a senior VP at Microsoft and former CEO of aQuantive -- an online ad firm acquired by Microsoft in 2007. McAndres (and others) had concerns about private browsing negatively impacting their ability to deliver relevant ads -- which, like DeLoreans, I still see on a very infrequent basis anyway.
While the Microsofties who were pushing privacy eventually lost the battle, their biggest disappointment lies in the fact that InPrivate -- like its cousins in other browsers -- is tucked away where the average user probably won't ever find it. Still, I'm amazed to learn that IE8 planners brought these ideas to the table in the first place.
I can't imagine Google or Apple having the same discussion, can you? Or even Firefox, for that matter? Mozilla, after all, derives the bulk of its revenue from the Google-powered search activities of its users. And I don't need to explain to you about how important browsing habits are to Google -- who is an ad company, after all -- and Apple -- who dominates mobile browsing.
In the Wall Street Journal article, one of McAndrews' co-execs is quoted as saying "We were worried it was going to cause a stampede... It was an act with the potential to reverberate across the industry."
Hey, it's much easier to continue on with invasive data-harvesting than it is to create compelling, imaginative advertisements which engage users even if they're not well targeted, right?
Was Internet Explorer nearly the only major browser with always-on privacy features? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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