

IE 10′s "Do-Not-Track" default dies quick death - tedsuo
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/ie-10s-do-not-track-default-dies-quick-death/

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pkamb
> _Which means that tech and ad companies who say they comply with Do Not
> Track could simply ignore the flag set by IE 10 and track those who use that
> browser, which means Microsoft has no choice but to change the setting._

That's a reach. How would the ad companies know if the user manually turned it
on or off? Ars is claiming they'll completely ignore _any_ DNT from IE?

~~~
tedsuo
Yes, I believe that is what they are saying.

------
stalled
For posterity, HN discussion on an earlier submission (same story, just linked
directly to Wired): <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4076910>

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synctext
Very strange story spin:

Microsoft tries to do the right thing, then Ars+DoNotTrack working group makes
them look like the bad guys....

~~~
mbrubeck
The problem is that DNT is _not_ a technical measure like pop-up blocking,
where enabling it by default is guaranteed to have an effect. Instead, it's a
voluntary measure whose implementation depends mainly on the advertising
networks rather than the browser vendors.

So if we want DNT to have _any_ effect, it must be something tracking
companies will consider a meaningful signal of user preference. The risk in
enabling it by default (for a browser that will eventually be used by 20-30%
of the web) is that tracking companies would increasingly ignore it -- even
the ones who have pledged support for DNT in its current form as implemented
by Firefox/Opera/Safari.

~~~
OpieCunningham
Well then. There should be a law.

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zoowar
I just installed Firefox on Fedora 17 and found, to my surprise, that Do-No-
Track was disabled by default.

