Microsoft released the first public version of Internet Explorer 11 last week as part of the preview of Windows 8.1. As it turns out, IE11 features improvements to the Do Not Track features that were put into IE10 as the default setting in 2012.
In a post on the Microsoft on the Issues blog, the company announced that IE11 is the first web browser that supports User-Granted Exceptions, a new protocol that comes from the World Wide Web Consortium"s (W3C) Tracking Protection Working Group. Brendon Lynch, the chief privacy officer at Microsoft, states:
The Do Not Track exceptions capability in Internet Explorer, which we refer to as the “permissions API” (application programming interface), enables websites to ask for an exception to a consumer’s DNT setting and provides a mechanism for that permission to be stored and communicated to the website in the future. Enabling consumers to grant permission to a particular website or service for collection and use of their information, even when DNT is on for other sites, reflects feedback that we heard clearly during discussions.
In addition, IE11 offers users more ways to change their personal Do Not Track settings via the Privacy panel in the Settings menu or from the Safety menu on the desktop. Lynch says that Microsoft continues to work with the W3C to create a Do Not Track standard that will be used by all web browsers and continues to listen to its customers, consumer groups, businesses, lawmakers and academic representatives as they evolve their polices on this issue.
Source: Microsoft | Image via Microsoft