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They are completely different beasts. Internet Explorer merely offers the option to enable[1] "Do Not Track", which websites and advertisers are free to ignore[

by miles 9y ago

They are completely different beasts. Internet Explorer merely offers the option to enable[1] "Do Not Track", which websites and advertisers are free to ignore[2], while Safari's new ad tracker blocker "uses machine learning to identify trackers, segregate the cross-site scripting data, put it away so now your privacy — your browsing history — is your own"[3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track#Internet_Explorer_10_default_setting_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track#Internet_Explorer... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track#Effectiveness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track#Effectiveness [3] https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/05/apple-adds-a-tracker-blocker-to-desktop-safari/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/05/apple-adds-a-tracker-block...

k-mcgrady 9y ago
Also worth pointing out that Safari has had the 'do not track' feature for years and Twitter recently announced they are going to start ignoring it (a good example of how useless it is). So this new protection is very necessary and a great USP for Safari.
ocdtrekkie 9y ago
You are actually incorrect. Tracking Protection refers to an IE feature that lets you set "Tracking Protection Lists", which block traffic to specified domains and URLs. You can see a bit about them here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh273400(v=vs.85).aspx https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh273400(v=vs.85).a... The whole "Do Not Track" default thing was, of course, a huge fiasco, as Google and others chose to ignore IE's default usage of it.
- amt528 9y ago
  I don't know why this has been downvoted. Tracking Protection Lists are one of the best and unsung features of IE. People don't realize that they're different from Do Not Track.
  - Flimm 9y ago
    Do you have to set it up manually? How is this better than downloading one of the privacy-protecting extensions available for most desktop browsers?
    - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
      Arguably, the fact that you don't have to trust a random third party extension code is a perk. And since this is a pretty straight up text file format it works off of, it's easy to roll your own or customize it as you wish. As I said in one of my comments, it's a bit janky to set up because you have to select one of the Tracking Protection Lists from their add-on gallery to turn it on, there's no default list pre-selected.

by miles 9y ago

k-mcgrady 9y ago

Also worth pointing out that Safari has had the 'do not track' feature for years and Twitter recently announced they are going to start ignoring it (a good example of how useless it is). So this new protection is very necessary and a great USP for Safari.

ocdtrekkie 9y ago

You are actually incorrect. Tracking Protection refers to an IE feature that lets you set "Tracking Protection Lists", which block traffic to specified domains and URLs. You can see a bit about them here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh273400(v=vs.85).aspx https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh273400(v=vs.85).a... The whole "Do Not Track" default thing was, of course, a huge fiasco, as Google and others chose to ignore IE's default usage of it.

amt528 9y ago
I don't know why this has been downvoted. Tracking Protection Lists are one of the best and unsung features of IE. People don't realize that they're different from Do Not Track.
- Flimm 9y ago
  Do you have to set it up manually? How is this better than downloading one of the privacy-protecting extensions available for most desktop browsers?
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    Arguably, the fact that you don't have to trust a random third party extension code is a perk. And since this is a pretty straight up text file format it works off of, it's easy to roll your own or customize it as you wish. As I said in one of my comments, it's a bit janky to set up because you have to select one of the Tracking Protection Lists from their add-on gallery to turn it on, there's no default list pre-selected.