IE 6 improves privacy support

 

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Posted on 22 Mar 2001 at 16:27

Internet Explorer 6 is not yet out, but Microsoft has outlined the privacy tools that will be incorporated in the next major release of its browser.

Available as part of the Windows XP release later this year, the developments are intended to help users select their own level of privacy protection when surfing Web sites, particularly in relation to a site's use of cookies.

The five possible settings will be available via a "Privacy" tab on the Internet Options dialog box (pictured).

The tools relate to the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) specification - Microsoft states that the new privacy settings were based heavily on its work with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) P3P working group. Basically, P3P-enabled Web sites should make available - in an XML-based format - the privacy policy of a Web site for automatic comparison with the end-user's preferences.

For more info, check out the P3P part of the W3C Web site.

Author: Alun Williams