There is good news regarding protecting personal information on the internet. Google and Mozilla have just joined Microsoft in giving users the choice of opting out of tracking cookies. Google announced that it will offer an add-on for its Chrome browser. Users will now have more freedom from tracking cookies that monitor their movement and online activities. This is a clear indication that tech companies now recognize the need for a balance between revenue generation and individual privacy.
The online marketing industry has been advocating for self-regulation. It has not reacted positively to discussions in regards to privacy protection. There have been many proposals for enhanced privacy policies that protect individual privacy. This recent development will mark the beginning of giving users more control over their personal information.
Many users do not realize the possible consequences of sharing their personal information online. They do not take time to thoroughly read the website’s privacy policies. It is either that they do not understand how their data will be handled, or they do not realize the importance of understanding. Only when they receive unsolicited advertisements – a consequence for being careless – do they realize the need for privacy protection.
Tech companies have accepted the fact that they do not have to give up their revenue generation approaches. They can still make use of the benefits from the advertisements that fuel the web. All they have to do is to meet halfway between privacy and revenue generation. This could be considered as a marginal enhancement, but could also hint at the start of a better dialogue on privacy.
Google’s Keep My Opt-Outs extension is free and can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. A company spokesperson said the new feature will give users significant control over their data. Mozilla also announced that it will soon release a similar tool for its Firefox browser. It said that it will apply a different approach, based on the Do Not Track HTTP header. However, it has not given a specific date for the integration of the new technology with Firefox.
It could be seen that the three giant tech companies are using different approaches in their privacy tools. However, all of these are attempts at giving more privacy to internet users. It is too early to tell which among the three approaches will rule, or which one will turn out to be ineffective. Being open to discussion on privacy matters is one good thing that is indicated by this development. Other developments can be probable in the remaining days of 2011. Consumers can look forward to a more reliable protection of their personal information.
So how do you make sure that all private data remains private on the Internet? Surf with an anonymous proxy to mask your IP address and protect your Internet identity.
