Microsoft to stop enabling 'Do Not Track' on its future browsers by default

In a bid to provide more control
into the hands of the users about their
privacy preferences, Microsoft has
announced that it will no longer enable 'Do
Not Track' (DNT) feature on the future
versions of its browsers.
Until now, DNT was enabled as a default
setting in Windows express settings, but
Microsoft intends to change that after the
latest draft of the standard by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which states
that the "signal must reflect the user's
preference, not the choice of some vendor,
institution, site or network-imposed
mechanism outside the user's control...
Tracking preference expression is only
transmitted when it reflects a deliberate
choice by the user."
The standard further reads that if there is an
absence of user choice, there is no tracking
preference expressed.
Microsoft said in its blog that in compliance
with the W3C standards, DNT will not be the
default state in its future browsers and it
will be providing users with clear
information on how to turn the feature on if
they require. This change will be visible
when users set up a new PC for the first
time, or when they upgrade their Windows or
Internet Explorer.
The software maker said that it had brought
in the implementation of DNT two years ago
in Internet Explorer 10 (IE 10) and in 2012,
it made clear to browser vendors to clearly
communicate to consumers whether the
DNT signal is turned off or on, and make it
easy for them to change the setting.
DNT feature requests that a web application
disable either its tracking or cross-site user
tracking of an individual user.