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Published: August 2009

Privacy controls for web browsers given a detailed look in CDT report

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has released an updated review of privacy tools available in five common web browsers. The report compares browser offerings in three key areas: privacy mode, cookie controls and object controls.

Download the report entitled "Browser Privacy Features: A Work in Progress"

Below is an excerpt from the report:

Several of the largest Internet companies have recently released new Web browsers or browser features aimed at giving Internet users greater control over their privacy as they surf the Web. That browser makers are competing to provide the best privacy protections is great news for Internet users, who will hopefully see continuing improvements in the simplicity and accessibility of browser controls that allow them to manage the information they generate and transmit over the Internet. This 2.0 version of the report updates version 1.0, which was released in October 2008. Version 2.0 compares the privacy features available in five Web browsers – Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 8, Google Chrome, Safari 4, and Opera 10.

Privacy Mode: The main motivation behind a browser privacy mode is to allow users to browse without leaving data trails on their computers. In the normal course of Web surfing, browsers record and retain a lot of information locally on users’ computers. Browsers save visited Web sites in the browsing history, downloaded files in the download history, and search terms in the search history. Browsers can also save the data typed into online forms (including passwords) and cached versions of files that may be needed again in the near future. The privacy modes in each of the browsers aim to reduce the local storage of these kinds of information, providing increased privacy on shared computers.

Cookie Controls: Some kinds of cookies facilitate the tracking of Internet users or store identifying information (or both). Cookie controls allow users to decide which cookies can be stored on their computers and transmitted to Web sites.

Object Controls: Increasingly, cookies are not the only tracking mechanism available to Web sites and services. Other kinds of data repeatedly transmitted to or from a user’s browser across different sites may also be used to log and profile the user’s Web activities. In this report we use the term “object controls” to describe browser mechanisms that allow users to decide which of these other mechanisms to block or allow on their computers.

This report does not address other browser features such as Web search boxes or malware or phishing detection.

The browser is the gateway to the Internet for many consumers. Ensuring that browser privacy controls are easy to find and simple to use is one crucial component of empowering consumers to maintain their privacy online. Improvements in this area cannot replace the need for a robust national privacy law, but they go a long way towards putting consumers in control of their own data.

For More Information

Center for Democracy and Technology

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Consumer Protection   ♦   Privacy/Rights   ♦