Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 9/15/2012 03:48:00 pm
Google Added Do Not Track (DNT) Facility in Chrome Web-Browser (User Privacy Implemented)
First it was
Mozilla who proposed the Do Not Track mechanism, later it has been garnered support from all major browser makers and a majority of the technology industry.
Users who want to take advantage of the new DNT capabilities in Chrome will have to install the latest "bleeding edge" developer build in the form of the
Chrome Canary branch. However, this version is not recommended for use in production environments. Users who are running a stable version of the browser will have to wait some months for the feature to arrive in the mainstream version.
"Do Not Track" is a tool that allows browser users to restrict advertisers from collecting information about their online Web activities. It has the backing of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Browsers with "Do Not Track" turned on don't block cookies but send a message to advertisers that the user does not want to be tracked. Companies voluntarily decide whether to comply with "Do Not Track," much as they currently decide whether to comply with the "Do Not Call" registry. Microsoft's announcement that it would turn on "Do Not Track" by default in IE10 angered advertisers. "The Digital Advertising Alliance, a coalition that counts Microsoft as a member, said that the decision ran counter to the industry's agreement with the White House announced earlier this year to honor 'do not track' as long as it is not a default setting," many international standards bodies.
-Source (The-H)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/09/2012 04:30:00 am
Chrome 23 Closes 15 Security Vulnerabilities, Promises Longer Battery Life & Added Do Not Track (DNT)
The searching giant Google finally included the Do Not Track (DNT) option into its first stable version of the company's browser which is Google Chrome 23. In February internet giant Google has agreed with the White House's Consumer Privacy Bill and here comes the result. Google has implemented the Do Not Track (DNT) header in its Chrome web browser. Few months ago Microsoft made Do Not Track (DNT) facility available by default in Internet Explorer 10. Also the Redmond based software giant drew some criticism recently for its decision to enable Do Not Track by default in IE 10. First it was Mozilla who proposed the Do Not Track mechanism, in Firefox in June 2011 when it released Firefox 5. The DNT option is disabled by default in Chrome and in order to turn it on, users need to go to the customization menu in the top right corner of the browser window. Then click on the Settings option in the left side and scroll down to open the Advanced Settings menu. Under the Privacy menu, check the box next to the "Send a 'Do Not Track' request with your browsing traffic" option. Once that option is enabled, the user will see a message explaining what the DNT system will do for them.
Not only DNT, with the release of Chrome 23, Google closes several security holes and promises to improve battery life for some users. For systems with dedicated graphics chips that support Chrome's GPU-accelerated video decoding, version 23 of the WebKit-based browser is said to significantly reduce power consumption. According to Google, batteries lasted on average 25% longer in its tests when GPU-accelerated video decoding was enabled compared to only using a system's CPU when streaming online videos. Version 23 of Chrome also addresses a total of 15 security vulnerabilities in the browser, 6 of which are rated as "high severity". These include high-risk use-after-free problems in video layout and in SVG filter handling, a integer bounds check issue in GPU command buffers and a memory corruption flaw in texture handling; a Mac-only problem related to wild writes in buggy graphics drivers has also been fixed. Eight medium-severity flaws including an integer overflow that could lead to an out-of-bounds read in WebP handling, and a low-risk have also been corrected. As part of its Chromium Security Vulnerability Rewards program, Google paid security researchers $9,000 for discovering and reporting these flaws. The update to Chrome also includes a new version of the Adobe Flash Player plugin which eliminates a number of critical vulnerabilities, all of which were discovered by the Google Security Team. Further information about the new features can be found in the release announcement, while a full list of security fixes is provided in a post on the Chrome Releases blog. Chrome 23.0.1271.64 is available to download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users.
-Source (Google Chrome Blog, The-H & threatpost)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 6/11/2012 05:08:00 am
Internet Explorer 10 Will Support Do Not Track (DNT) By Default in Windows 8
Browser war continues and as a result here come another twist, that is in its recent Windows 8, I mean on Release Preview software giant Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 10 will have “Do Not Track” (DNT) on by default. IE 10 will be the first web browser with a Do Not Track feature that's on by default. In their official blog release MS said Consumers can change this setting, but the default will be to send the DNT signal to websites that consumers visit. According to Microsoft's Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch - "We've made today’s decision because we believe in putting people first. We believe that consumers should have more control over how information about their online behavior is tracked, shared and used. Consumers should be empowered to make an informed choice and, for these reasons, we believe that for IE10 in Windows 8, a privacy-by-default state for online behavioral advertising is the right approach..." Later he added "We are engaged with the W3C, as we are with many international standards bodies. While we respect the W3C's perspective, we believe that a standard should support a privacy by default choice for consumers"
The company also pointed to minutes from the W3C group working on the draft specs, in which the group's co-chairwoman said: "It will be quite a while before we have a final recommendation with which to comply or not.
"Do Not Track" is a tool that allows browser users to restrict advertisers from collecting information about their online Web activities. It has the backing of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Browsers with "Do Not Track" turned on don't block cookies but send a message to advertisers that the user does not want to be tracked. Companies voluntarily decide whether to comply with "Do Not Track," much as they currently decide whether to comply with the "Do Not Call" registry. Microsoft's announcement that it would turn on "Do Not Track" by default in IE10 angered advertisers. "The Digital Advertising Alliance, a coalition that counts Microsoft as a member, said that the decision ran counter to the industry's agreement with the White House announced earlier this year to honor 'do not track' as long as it is not a default setting," many international standards bodies.
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