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Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) supports two separate technologies for restricting access to information related to a user's online activity. One of the privacy features was recently prompted by the Federal Trade Commission ... (FTC). Both technologies involve the way websites share data with third-parties. The most prominent example is with advertisements that appear on a page; for example, rather than simply linking ads to the page content (such as a newspaper site running golf equipment ads alongside a golf match report), a site might pass on details of all the pages a ... (view more)

A New York senator has called for major US Internet sites to offer all of their web pages in secure mode. Charles Schumer says the move would help protect against theft of data through public WiFi networks. The request involves the hypertext ... transfer protocol, which is the technical system used for transferring data between a website and a user, and vice versa. The protocol is available in two forms: standard (in which page addresses begin with http://) and secure (in which page addresses begin with https://). Secure Browser Sessions Encrypted, Denoted by Padlock In a secure connection, which ... (view more)

A new feature in Internet Explorer is a major boost for Microsoft's web browser "Tracking Protection" system. The feature, which will debut in Internet Explorer 9 , is a response to calls by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for Internet to make it ... easier for users to opt out of being tracked online . The FTC doesn't want sites to ditch all tracking activities, but rather desires site visitors to have the power to prevent their details being passed on to third parties. This is most relevant with advertising; for example, if a company wants to display an advertisement based around the ... (view more)

Mozilla and Google have both followed Microsoft's lead in giving users a chance to opt out of having their activity tracked by advertisers. But the voluntary schemes may not be effective enough to stave off government action. The changes follow ... Federal Trade Commission (FTC) demands for both website and browser developers to make it easier for users to opt out of tracking. The call was designed to tackle fears that sites were abusing their ability to pass on details about what people do online to advertisers, allowing for better targeted advertisements, which typically command higher rates. ... (view more)

The British government may request Internet Service Providers (ISPs) block all adult-mannered web content. Users could still access the material, but only by specifically requesting that the block be removed. The idea is to limit the dangers of ... children being exposed to this type of content when they use the Internet. But the plan has attracted harsh criticism, against both the principle and the practicalities of carrying it out. Ed Vaizey, the government's communications minister said this weekend that "I think it is very important that it's the ISPs that come up with solutions to protect [ ... (view more)

It seems most people don't need Google to look up their favorite social networking web site. According to a recent report, Facebook has surpassed the search giant's main site as the most-visited web page in the United States for 2010. The report ... comes courtesy of industry analysts at Experian Hitwise, which finds that in the past year Facebook eclipsed both Google and Yahoo in popularity. Of all visits to web sites made by American Internet users this past year (at least, between January and November), 8.9 per cent were associated with Facebook. By comparison, 7.2 per cent of website visits ... (view more)

The owner of an online eyeglasses store has been charged with making electronic threats to disappointed customers. However, in doing so, Vitaly Borker believes the threats actually helped to boost the site's position in Google search rankings, and ... thus bring more traffic to his website. Borker, who operates decormyeyes.com, has been charged with four offenses: cyberstalking, making interstate threats, mail fraud and wire fraud. In at least one case, he is accused both of delivering a counterfeit pair of "designer" spectacles and vastly overcharging the customer. When the New York Times ... (view more)

A new study shows that Americans are less likely to engage in online social networking than many of their global counterparts. According to the findings, Asia is fast becoming the place where people are most likely to go online to share digital ... thoughts and photographs with friends and family. The research was performed by analyst firm TNS, which found that central and southeast Asia is a hotspot for social networking activity. In Thailand, approximately 92 per cent of Internet-connected residents have uploaded photographs to photo-sharing web sites. In nearby Malaysia, the number is 88 per ... (view more)

Google will soon offer content from the Associated Press (AP) on its news site. While the deal makes business sense, it's something of a surprise given that the two companies have publicly disagreed over interpretation of copyright rules. The full ... details of the deal, and specifically the financial arrangements and the duration of the license extension included, are being kept under wraps. MarketWatch figures suggest that, given Google's size, the fee is likely worth more than $1 million US dollars per year. The Associated Press has revealed that the deal will mean closer collaboration rather ... (view more)

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which is the closest thing to a web-wide governing body, has made several key changes to the way website addresses will work. It's added Chinese character addresses, backed a dedicated adult ... domain, and taken a further step towards tighter Internet security. The addition of Chinese characters follows a similar move last month, when Arabic script was included. It means for the first time the entire address can be written in the script, including the part at the end which indicates a country. To avoid confusion, the system isn't used for ... (view more)