• PCWorld.com, Friday, February 10, 2012 12:21 PM

To the chagrin of data-hungry marketers, “Do Not Track” technologies continue to improve and evolve. A free tool released this week was designed specifically to address many of the concerns raised by a recent study, which found that anti-tracking technology was too confusing and difficult to use. “It's called Do Not Track Plus, and it works seamlessly with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari,” reports PCWorld. "Not only that, but it can increase page load speeds by up to four times, its maker says.”

A beta version of Abine's Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) was released last year, initially just for Firefox, and it saw more than 1 million downloads, the company says. Users can decide at the individual Web site level whether they want to block or allow tracking. When they do want their activities to remain private, DNT+ blocks a growing list of 580 different tracking technologies and more than 200 tracking companies, according to PCWorld.

“With an easy-to-use interface, the tool aims to prevent advertisers from watching users' site visits, shopping interests, hobbies, clicks, and geographic location.” The tool also keeps a running “block counter” so users can see how many tracking attempts have been blocked, and from what companies.

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