• Wired, Thursday, June 7, 2012 11:49 AM

Released Wednesday, the latest proposed draft of the Do Not Track specification requires that users must choose to turn on the anti-behavioral tracking feature in their browsers and software. “That means that Microsoft IE 10, which the company announced last week will have Do Not Track turned on by default, won’t be compliant with the official spec,” Wired reports.

“Which means that tech and ad companies who say they comply with Do Not Track could simply ignore the flag set by IE 10 and track those who use that browser. Which means Microsoft has no choice but to change the setting.” Microsoft announced its plans for IE and its Do Not Track setting late last week. On the news, as Wired notes, some suggested that the move was meant to gouge Google, as the search giant’s ad system depends on tracking cookies.

“But it also enraged many online ad companies and industry groups, who saw the move as overly aggressive and a threat to their business model.” The Do Not Track spec is the work of a group of privacy advocates, browser makers, technology firms and online ad companies.

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