14 DAY TRIAL // The web tracking protection proposal submitted by Microsoft to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for standardisation includes Mozilla's Do-Not-Track (DNT) HTTP header implementation.
Back in December, the Federal Trade Commission called for browser makers to devise an uniform, persistent and user-friendly setting that would reflect the choice of consumers who don't want their browsing habits tracked.
Such a setting would give the commission an easy way to enforce regulations in an area where consumer choice is currently more of a theory than a practice.
But despite the call for uniformity, each of the major browser went ahead an implemented their own different solution to the problem, proving once again how divided the industry is.
Microsoft's implementation relies on filter lists maintained by privacy groups to which the users can subscribe. The browser then blocks calls to websites defined in those lists.
Mozilla's solution is less proactive, but easier to standardise. It focuses on an HTTP header value called DNT that is sent with every browser request if the user enables a setting.
The drawback of this implementation is that it fully relies on websites respecting the wish of the users. On the other hand, Microsoft's method can also be used to stop sites that simply don't care about such things.
Google's solution seems to be the least desireable because it was implemented as an extension and relies on setting cookies supplied by the IAB's Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising.
Microsoft was the first to push for standardisation by submitting its proposal to the W3C, which accepted and published it on its website.
But despite the company's marketing push to make a big deal out of this, the mere acceptance of a submission is the first step in a lengthy process that might or might not result in a standard.
Nevertheless, it seems that Microsoft's submission also includes Mozilla's DNT header, so, maybe a combination of the two methods might be the winner.