The team that develops WebKit for Apple’s Safari browser is taking a strong stand against companies tracking people on the web.
They call out tracking as an infringement of user privacy, and promise WebKit will block it wherever possible.
Safari’s “Do Not Track” setting was supposed to protect us from advertisers following us from website to website but it never worked like it was supposed to and Apple has given up on it.
Instead, the web browser has what Apple calls Intelligent Tracking Prevention.
While other web browsers exist and thrive on iOS, Safari is the one Apple includes with it’s iOS system software, and it’s probably the one most of us use often, no small thanks to the fact that it’s integrated at the system level. Every click through, unless third-party apps (like Mailbox) allow something different, takes us to Safari as our main browser.
Therefore, if you’re looking for ways to protect more of your privacy, you’ll want to enable the Do Not Track feature in mobile Safari, as well as possibly block cookies, which are bits of code that store your preferences on website servers for return visits.
If you’ve decided to wait for OS X Mountain Lion until all of your apps are compatible, don’t think Apple has forgotten all about you already. The Cupertino company has just released Safari 6 for OS X Lion, which introduces a number of new features, including the smart search field, an offline Reading List, and more.
The latest beta version of Safari now features a do-not-track privacy setting to prevent online advertisers from tracking users as they surf the Web.
The tool has been added to the latest version of Safari in Lion, the upcoming update to OS X expected to go public this summer.
Safari is the third major browser to add a do-not-track setting. It joins Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox include it, but Google’s Chrome does not — yet.
Google, of course, is one of the web’s biggest online advertisers. It’s also worth noting that Apple offers an in-app advertising program called iAds that competes with other forms of advertising, online and off.
Wall Street Journal: Apple Adds Do-Not-Track Tool to New Browser
