Microsoft adopts open profiling standard

Microsoft announced yesterday that they are implementing the World WideWeb Consortium (W3C) specification for personal privacy, known as "Platformfor Privacy Preferences (P3). Microsoft will add this capability to severalproducts, including Internet Explorer 4.0, Site Server, Windows NT 5.0, andseveral Web sites such as Expedia, MSNBC, and Sidewalk.

"We are not only implementing this standard on our Web servers and IE clients, but throughout the whole company," said Kevin Unangst, a MicrosoftInternet Explorer product manager.

The P3 specification enables a Web site to tell users about its datacollection practices (through Cookies or other technologies) and enables the to tell the site about their privacy preferences--all before enteringthe site. If the site collects more information than the user wishes toreveal, they will be notified by the browser and can choose whether to continue