tracking

Consumer groups encouraged by 'Consumer Bill of Rights'

Consumer advocates say the Obama administration's blueprint for protecting consumers' privacy online is a good first step, but they will be watching closely to see how it's implemented.

The White House and the Federal Trade Communications today unveiled the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights," which will serve as a policy outline for future legislation and public policy that will work to protect consumers' privacy while online from a computer or mobile phone.

The administration also worked with online advertising associations, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and others, to revive "Do Not Track" technology … Read more

The battle for online privacy

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Chrome to support Do Not Track privacy feature

Google has agreed to build support for Do Not Track into Chrome so its Web browser can tell Web sites when people don't want advertisers scrutinizing their behavior.

The Do Not Track technology modifies communications between browsers and servers so people can signal that they don't want their browsing behavior to become the basis for ad targeting.

Mozilla developed Do Not Track and built it into its Firefox Web browser. Microsoft followed suit not long after with Internet Explorer, Apple has enabled it as an option for developers in Safari 5.1, and Opera is building it into the forthcoming Opera 12. … Read more

Obama unveils Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights

The Obama administration plans to work with Congress to enact legislation to protect peoples' online privacy based on a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights being unveiled tomorrow.

At the same time, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL are committing to work with Do Not Track technology in most major Web browsers so people can stop companies from tracking them as they bounce around the Internet, the administration said in a statement.

The announcement comes as Google, Apple, and other technology companies are being increasingly criticized for not doing enough to protect consumers' privacy rights online. The problem has become particularly acute … Read more

Ford upgrades virtual reality simulator

Ford's Virtual Test Track Experiment (Virttex) just got a major technology upgrade.

Virttex, developed in 2001, is a high-fidelity, motion-based simulator that features a dome on top of a hydraulic system to mimic vehicle movement, giving it a slight resemblance to a jellyfish.

The upgraded image rendering technologies will provide a high-res, digitally projected 360-degree horizontal field-of-view to test and measure driver acceleration, braking and steering performance as well as overall driver reactions in varying conditions. This will help Ford develop and test active safety and driver aid technologies that warn drivers of imminent collision, drowsiness and other potentially … Read more

Does your browser feed the cookie monster--or starve it?

Google's latest public display of cookie addiction revealed that while the ad side of Google enthusiastically embraces third-party cookies, the browser division is more hesitant. Here's how the five major browsers--Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera--protect you from those third-party tracking cookies.

But first: what's a tracking cookie? And why are they so important as a component of your online privacy?

A tracking cookie can be used to follow people around the Web as they jump from site to site. Though your IP address or your HTTP request header's referral field can also be used … Read more

Privacy brouhaha reveals Google's split personality

When it comes to privacy, is the Googleplex speaking with one voice?

A new Google privacy controversy has revealed conflicting messages and actions between two different factions within the company: those working to protect consumer privacy on the one hand, and those seeking to improve advertising and social networking on the other.

Meanwhile, the news that Google overrode default cookie settings in Apple's Safari browser has prompted two complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and renewed calls for legislation and industry standards that would protect Web surfers from being tracked across sites if they don't … Read more

WSJ: Google tricked Apple's Safari in order to track users

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Google and other ad companies have been using special code to sidestep privacy settings in Apple's Safari browser and track Web users on desktop computers and the iPhone.

The Journal also said that on one of Google's sites--in language that has since been removed--the Internet giant had said Safari users could rely on the browser's privacy settings to avoid tracking by Google. (Editors' note: See Google's response below.)

The privacy-skirting code, which the Journal said Google disabled after being contacted by the paper, appears to have been used to … Read more

Want better car insurance rates? Let the AA track your driving

If you could save over $1,300 on your annual car insurance by letting your provider track your driving, would you?

That's the question U.K. drivers are mulling this morning, as the country's Automobile Association (AA) is set to launch a new insurance policy that would place a "black box" into a car, allowing the organization to make sure its insured drivers are behaving on the road.

According to the BBC, which first reported on the move, the technology will monitor speed, braking severity, and the roads drivers are on. The information collected from the … Read more

Do Not Track Plus add-on stops the tracking paparazzi

If ad-blocking is the hacksaw of Internet-protecting add-ons, the overhauled add-on Do Not Track Plus bows today as a finely honed scalpel, excising tracking behaviors embedded in sites without destroying the modern Web.

Released exclusively through CNET Download.com, Do Not Track Plus 2.0.4 follows last year's beta release with a greatly expanded feature set, better performance, and is available on four of the five major browsers. You can download Do Not Track Plus for Firefox (Windows | Mac), Chrome (Windows | Mac), Internet Explorer (Windows only), and Safari (Windows | Mac).

The intent of the free add-on is as … Read more