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Google says you don't know what you want, so they'll give it to you...


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2012 Feb 21, 3:41am   2,088 views  4 comments

by TPB   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

Well I don't know who to blame more, Microsoft for having the clunky security settings, that either blocks things you don't want blocked, or leaves you wide open for every thing from everyone. Or Google's interpretation of what they think the User wants.
While I'm no fan of IE, I would expect their security settings to work as intended. But resolving most simple privacy settings, always results in a long technical discussion with the end user tying to get things resolved.

Hachamovitch suggests that Google is purposefully tricking Microsoft's browser into accepting cookies that users would have otherwise blocked. The implication is that Google could track some IE users even if their privacy settings ask Google not to.

Google slammed Microsoft's criticism, calling it disingenuous.

"It is well known -- including by Microsoft -- that it is impractical to comply with Microsoft's request while providing modern web functionality," Rachel Whetstone, Google's head of policy, said in a written statement. "We have been open about our approach, as have many other websites."

The problem is that Microsoft made an outdated and commonly ignored standard the cornerstone of its browser's privacy controls.

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) relies on "P3P," a protocol that was adopted in 2002 by the World Wide Web Consortium, the Web's standards body. It was left for dead soon after. IE is the only major browser that implements P3P, and Google called it "widely non-operational."

Most major browsers, like Chrome, Firefox and Safari, have simple cookie settings: "accept," "do not accept," or "do not accept third-party cookies."

P3P, and by extension IE, allows users to set far more granular privacy controls, including vague terms like, "low," "medium," "medium-high," and "high."

Turns out both users and Web developers hate that approach.

Few people bother adjusting their settings. Meanwhile, those complicated settings make it very tricky for sites to integrate some third-party features like a Facebook "like" button or Google's +1.

As a result, many sites -- including Facebook -- have been exploiting a P3P loophole to get around the privacy settings.

I don't participate in Google+ or Facebook, and if my privacy setting are being thwarted by any company, because they think I'm to stupid to set the browser settings, then I have a big problem with that.

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1   TPB   2012 Feb 21, 5:33am  

You know just poking around in Firefox, and I have "Tell Websites do not Track me." checked and yet, every where I go, the ad banners all know my weakness for Brown rice Green Tea, and my admiration for high priced crappers. As there's amazon offers for Gen Mai Cha and Kohler toilets.

2   nope   2012 Feb 21, 2:01pm  

It's useful to actually understand P3P and why it's such a useless technology before commenting on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P3P#Criticisms

That's all I'll say on the subject.

3   TPB   2012 Feb 21, 2:40pm  

You missed the point, just because the door bell is broke, doesn't give Google the right to just come on in.

I don't know about you, but my privacy is worth more than a Like or a +1 icon on the page.

4   nope   2012 Feb 22, 1:21pm  

TPB says

You missed the point, just because the door bell is broke, doesn't give Google the right to just come on in.

I don't know about you, but my privacy is worth more than a Like or a +1 icon on the page.

William E Baughb

Nah, the point you're missing is that P3P doesn't actually protect your privacy in any way.

Companies could lie and claim to honor whatever policy they put in there, and you'd never know it. It was a terrible idea and that's why IE is the only browser that supports it (and even Microsoft's own sites don't use it).

If you truly don't want third parties setting advertising cookies, disable third-party cookies.

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