Privacy, Do Not Track | featured news

The two-year-old drive to give consumers a simple way to block companies from tracking their behavior as they move across the Internet has faltered, say participants in the process who are struggling to reconcile privacy concerns with an advertising model that pays for many free Internet services.

Last Thursday, Microsoft announced several new features to the upcoming IE10, which will launch as part of Windows 8. One of these features, which turns on “Do Not Track” by default, has caused quite a stir over the weekend as new outlets and bloggers have discussed the potential benefits and ramifications of this feature.

U.S. regulators pushed Internet companies on Monday to adopt a "Do Not Track" system that would give consumers more control over their personal data online, and asked Congress to pass privacy legislation.

Although it lacks a 'do not track' provision, the bill's advocates say it would enact the first comprehensive protections for consumers' digital data transmitted from computers or other devices.Internet privacy is shaping up as the consumer issue of the year in Congress, as evidenced by new legislation introduced with bipartisan support from two former presidential candidates.