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Microsoft to support anonymous browsing

Tue Aug 26 10:47AM

Microsoft officials have confirmed that the company is to introduce a way for users to surf the Web anonymously.

As part of the upcoming Internet Explorer 8 release, Microsoft is incorporating 'inPrivate' - a mode that will not record visits to the user's history and will not allow sites to place cookies on the user's system. Apple currently offers a similar service with its Safari browser.

Many industry pundits haven't wasted any time in pointing out one of the most obvious uses of the feature, nicknaming it 'porn mode,' highlighting the ability to view adult sites without leaving a trail for employers or family members to follow.

There have also been questions raised over the helpfulness of the latest release, which could make it harder for police to track Internet users that are viewing harmful or illegal websites.

On a recent posting to the official IE blog though, Microsoft officials put forward some more innocent uses of the new release:

"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. Maybe you need to buy a gift for a loved one without ruining the surprise. Maybe you're at an Internet kiosk and don't want the next person using it to know at which website you bank."

Obviously the new Internet Explorer will have pros and cons but my question to you is: Should the Internet be completely private or should our movements be traceable?

Comments31 - 40 of 247

Why not...for those ppl who would love to comprimise their personal freedom should know that criminals and paedophiles have their own why of browsing the internet without leaving traces. How about all these 3rd part software which allow ppl to surf anonymously?

From man_from_telford on Tue Aug 26 12:45PM
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Shut down the porn sites !

From prentiw1 on Tue Aug 26 12:49PM
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Again, this has nothing to do with the "dark side" of the internet.
Paedophiles etc etc will already try to hide their tracks using software 100% more advanced than anything Microsoft will offer for free.
This will not hide a paedophile in any way as most arrests are done at hosting / isp level .....
This is about the average user and the information that is being recorded.
What sites you vist, what and when you buy, some personal details etc etc
Why should companies be able to "record" every internet click in regards to where you go and what you buy ?
Why should they then be able to sell this information on ?
I personally beleive you do have a right to browse in saftey ....

From kpec01 on Tue Aug 26 12:53PM
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i only support this due to the fact that it's 'my right' and nothing to with with being a criminal. For far too long our rights and freedoms have become corredoded and councils using the terrorists laws in the UK to spy on their innocent citizens...yes i agree with the fact that we do need some privacy...i also agree about the concerns of the folk worried about the criminally intent...i would dislike them getting the upper hand so i have to support the fact that as an honest citizen that i would be worried if the internet was not policed just like outside...its a necessary evil.

From james_a_weir on Tue Aug 26 12:54PM
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Don't make me laugh, this is not private! The police could get through it if they wanted to. What is this nonsense about it helping people access child porn? Because the police catch people looking at child porn by viewing their web history......apparently.

From leebandettini on Tue Aug 26 12:55PM
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Seriously, this is not going ot help Paedophiles or Pirates or anything. All this will do is stop people that use your computer seeing what you've done - your ISP will still log where you've been, the site will take your IP address.
This is not going to help criminals carry out dodgy transactions - it's merely to stop nosey families seeing which sites you visit.

From mikeduffield on Tue Aug 26 01:00PM
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Actually, this doesn't change all that much. On Vista, there is already a button in IE that removes all cookies and history - overwrites it securely making a disk sector analysis useless so far as history and cookies are concerned. What this latest change does is prevent those records being written in the first place. Downloaded content will still be forensically detectable and server side logs will still be of value. Of course, there is nothing to say that offenders will not use a browser such as Safari that already offers this feature.

From markalong64 on Tue Aug 26 01:03PM
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Coming from a company whom specialised at stealing/harvesting data from users computer without their premission is a joke, even when they are caught they can still come up with some @#$% & bull stories to defend it, I wouldnt trust them as far as I can throw them

From duffy90210 on Tue Aug 26 01:16PM
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Don't be so stupid, it's not like the police go into your computer to check your history. THe criticisms of this are laughable. All it does is stops the history being stored on your machine, saves you having to go to tools and clear private data. That's all, what's the big fuss.
Police etc check the records of what IP address access unlawful sites and then that IP address is linked to an ISP account which then provides the details of the account holder. This so called improvement does not change that in the slightest.

From dj_colin_s on Tue Aug 26 01:20PM
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Thanks markalong64 for bringing some sense to the debate. I use Firefox to browse and when I close it down after each surf, it asks if I want to delete my surfing history and cookies. The answer is always yes. I'm the ony one to use the computer and I have nothing to hide, just privacy to protect. If someone wants to know my browsing history, they will have to offer me money and be prepared for a no answer.

From andipiggott on Tue Aug 26 01:22PM
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