The next version of computer code will ease Web browsing but further erode privacy, advocates warn.
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In a few years, HTML 5 will enable viewing multimedia content without downloading extra software and checking e-mail offline and offer many other conveniences, The New York Times reported Sunday.
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It’s going to change everything about the Internet and the way we use it today, said software developer James Cox.
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But the improved hypertext markup language also will expose many more details about computer users’ online activities.
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It will collect and store much more data on the user’s hard drive while online. Advertisers and others could, experts say, see weeks or even months of personal data, including location, time zone, photographs, text from blogs, shopping cart contents, e-mails and a history of sites visited.
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Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum told the Times: HTML 5 opens Pandora’s box of tracking in the Internet.
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The World Wide Web Consortium, which oversees specifications for the new Web language, says it is taking privacy very seriously.