With Mozilla releasing its beta version for Firefox 4 toward the end of last year, it still has some features to add before the full version is released. This complete Firefox 4 is supposed to release sometime in February.
Mozilla plans on implementing the No-Track feature that lets users opt out of online behavioral advertising. This move is an attempt to give users the ultimate control of their own web experiences.
Mozilla’s head of privacy, Alex Fowler, recently wrote in a blog post, “The web is evolving quickly in how information about people is collected, used and shared online. We believe it’s crucial to put people in control of their personal web interactions and experiences… In particular, we’re seeking ways to provide Firefox users a deeper understanding of and control over the flow of personal information online.”
How Firefox’s No-Track Feature Will Work
The No-Track feature is a way for users to opt out of online advertising. Mozilla is giving users the ability to set a preference that will transmit their desire to opt out of third party, advertising-based tracking by relaying a Do Not Track http header with every click or page view in Firefox.
“When the feature is enabled and users turn it on, web sites will be told by Firefox that a user would like to opt out of OBA,” Fowler said. “We believe the header-based approach has the potential to be better for the web in the long run because it is a clearer and more universal opt-out mechanism than cookies or blacklists.”
Fowler also said that the No-Track header builds upon the work the advertising company has already done without the cookie based system that the users have access to online. Fowler argued that the header is less complex and easy to locate and use, it is more tenacious than cookie-based solutions, and it doesn’t depend on users going out to find and load lists of ad networks and advertisers in order to block them.
With Mozilla adding the No-Track feature to its latest browser, Firefox 4, and all other browsers starting to do the same, do you think this feature will make a difference in how many people use Firefox? Do you think it will help them in the browser war?