Microsoft is preparing Internet Explorer (IE) 8 for release and has said that it will improve the privacy features of the browser.
"Users should be in control of their information. That’s at the core of privacy," said Andy Zeigler, an IE programme manager on a Microsoft blog about IE.
"Have you ever wanted to take your web browsing 'off the record'? Perhaps you’re using someone else’s computer and you don’t want them to know which sites you visited," he said. "With respect to privacy, IE8 gives users more choice about controlling what information they keep and exchange."
Microsoft will include a browsing mode called InPrivate in IE8. That mode will allow users to use the internet without the browser storing cookies, history and other information.
Browsers often store information as you use them that is useful either to you or to the sites you visit. They store a history of your browsing so that you can retrace your browsing steps.
More likely to be seen by users as a privacy threat are cookie – small files stored in your browser by the websites you visit so that if you return the website knows that you have been there before.
Cookies are also used by advertising networks across a number of sites to try to target appropriate adverts to users.
In current versions of IE users can delete their browsing history after the end of a session. That will still be possible in the new version, but users will also be able to prevent the software from saving your browsing history in the first place, and tell it not to store any new cookies the browser receives.
The software will not store any new information, such as passwords, form data, addresses in the address bar, search queries or visited links.
"If you are using a shared PC, a borrowed laptop from a friend, or a public PC, sometimes you don’t want other people to know where you’ve been on the web," said Zeigler. "Internet Explorer 8’s InPrivate Browsing makes that 'over the shoulder' privacy easy by not storing history, cookies, temporary Internet files, or other data."
Using InPrivate Browsing is as easy as launching a new InPrivate Browsing window. When you’re done, just close the window and IE will take care of the rest," he said.
The new software will also let users delete most browsing history but keep any history relating to sites that are stored in the 'favorites' section of the browser, since those are likely to be frequently visited sites which would benefit from more information about your browsing.
