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Do-not-track feature coming to Safari

by Michael Grothaus Apr 14th 2011 at 1:00AM

The latest developer release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion includes a Safari web browser with do-not-track features built in. Do-not-track features in a web browser allow that browser to send messages to websites and advertising networks informing them that the user wishes not to be tracked. However, the feature is only effective if the advertiser or website agrees to not track a specific user, and right now advertisers and web sites are not legally required to honor the wishes of users using do-not-track features in browsers. As to be expected, major online advertising networks are dragging their heels saying they haven't yet agreed on how to implement do-not-track systems effectively.

With the do-not-track feature built into Safari in Lion, Apple joins the ranks of Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox as do-not-track browsers. Google's Chrome is the only major do-not-track holdout. That should come as a shock to no one, considering Google is in the ad business. However, if you do use Chrome, you can download the free do-not-track extension Keep My Opt-Outs.



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The latest developer release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion includes a Safari web browser with do-not-track features built in. Do-not-track...
 

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Shira

I can appreciate the fact that apple is trying to figure out a way to stop website from tracking users, but if they will require the permission of the websites individually then I am not sure how many will actually comply.

April 18 2011 at 2:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lordthree

Track HOW exactly? Tracking thru cookies? Flash cookies? I don't get it I guess. In order to track your IP and what it connects to- they would be required to have some sort of cookie on your client end sending them back information right? If you have cookies turned off, or erase them frequently enough, then how are they still tracking you?

April 14 2011 at 12:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Martyn

Why would you ever want to turn this feature off?

April 14 2011 at 10:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tblyons

"Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:
- Websites that collect or share information about you
- Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit"

So incognito only affects the way information is stored on your computer, not how the external world sees your computer. Because it doesn't affect the way the world sees your computer, they are still able to track you. However, do-not-track is only a plea with the world not to track you...

So I don't feel completely safe with this feature.
Also, Google is an advertising agency; I can certainly understand why they would drag their feet implementing this.

April 14 2011 at 9:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel

There's a very easy way to avoid being tracked: use /etc/hosts to redirect tracking websites to 127.0.0.1. I've been doing this for years.

April 14 2011 at 9:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ben

So I'm curious....if Chrome already has the Incognito Browsing, does it really need a do-not-track feature? And isn't the do-not-track just a weaker opt-in version of the incognito concept?

April 14 2011 at 5:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Ben's comment
Mike

I'd like to know too.

April 14 2011 at 7:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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