Enough about “porn mode” in Internet Explorer 8.0.
The new privacy features previewed in the recent beta 2 are a good idea.
The problem that Microsoft is addressing — and in a serious fashion — is mysterious to less-sophisticated computer users: In the name of convenience, computers track stuff that, if found by someone, could embarrass you, bust you dead broke or get you fired.
Forget about porn. Give me about five minutes with a PC you’ve been using, and I can tell most of what you’ve been doing on the Internet, including details of your banking transactions if you’re careless.
Meanwhile, on the Internet end of things, computers routinely track your activity to create custom advertising, commissions and marketing information.
Manipulating data
Internet Explorer’s 8’s “InPrivate” option lets you turn off data collection for specific sites, then turn it back on again. Among the data you can manipulate are:
— Your browsing history and address bar.
— The disk cache, designed to speed up surfing, also records hundreds of megabytes of Web pages you’ve accessed.
— Cookies, usually with no bad intent, but which do contain site-specific names that can be read locally.
— File download history.
— Saved form information where passwords and other site-specific data might lurk.
— Sending of referrer headers. If you visit site A, site B can read this to tell who sent you; this is the basis of “click through” advertising referrals.
The idea is that you freeze data collection on sensitive sites. True, people who view porn sites will find this wildly useful to keep casual snoops from noticing, although most likely such sites will refuse to let people log in if they have privacy enabled.
But it also is useful for anyone who occasionally indulges private surfing at work, contrary to company policy, who uses Internet cafes or has to borrow someone else’s PC.
A Big…