NEW YORK - The Firefox and Google Chrome browsers are gettingtools to help users block advertisers from collecting informationabout them.
Alex Fowler, a technology and privacy officer for Firefox makerMozilla, said the "Do Not Track" tool will be the first in a seriesof steps designed to guard privacy. He didn't say when the tool willbe available.
Google Chrome users can now download a browser plug-in thatblocks advertisers - but only from ad networks that already letpeople decline personalized, targeted ads. According to Google Inc.,these include the top 15 advertising networks, as rated by theresearch group comScore, a group that includes AOL Inc., Yahoo Inc.and Google itself.
The next version of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser,which is still being developed, will include a similar feature,though people will have to create or find their own lists of sitesthey want to block.
Google and Mozilla, however, are developing tracking-protectiontools that will work automatically - once people decide to turn onthat privacy feature, that is.
Microsoft, Google and Mozilla's promises of stronger privacycomes on the heels of government complaints that online advertisersare able to collect too much data about people in their quest totarget ads.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission recommended the creationof a "Do Not Track" tool that would invite consumers to restrictadvertisers from collecting information about them, including thewebsites they visit, the links they click, their Internet searchesand their online purchases.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department last month called forguidelines that would require online advertisers to warn consumerswhat information about them they are collecting and how they plan touse it. Consumers, the department said, should be able to "opt out,"or decline, some or all of that data collection. And if companies docollect information, they would be required to store it securely.
Google product managers Sean Harvey and Rajas Moonka said the newChrome tool will allow for more permanent ad blocking. Before, opt-out settings were typically stored through small files known ascookies; when users clear cookies, however, the opt-out settings geterased, too. Another benefit is that the new tool allows users toopt out of all participating ad networks at once, rather than one ata time.
Google eventually hopes to develop a similar plug-in for otherbrowsers as well, Harvey and Moonka added.
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