CDT Releases Comprehensive Report on Browser Privacy Controls
Washington—The Center for Democracy & Technology today released a report assessing the privacy control features of the five major browsers. The report concludes that no single browser stands above the rest—all have strengths that are offset by weaknesses. The report is an update of CDT's 2009 browser report.
"Across the board, browser makers are enhancing privacy controls," said Justin Brookman, Director of CDT's Privacy Project. "However, at the same time browsers are incorporating features that create new challenges to privacy, such as allowing new ways for consumers to be tracked."
The report notes that privacy controls haven't kept up with some of the newer tracking technologies, including "object controls" (such as for Flash and DOM storage) and location services. In addition, consumers may find the number of controls confusing and instead use default privacy settings, which are typically weak.
The report acknowledges that one strategy for increasing the usability of privacy controls would be to implement a "Do Not Track" option for consumers, either through industry self-regulation or by legislation. Microsoft and Mozilla have both recently announced initiatives to incorporate global tracking controls into their browsers. However, since behavioral web targeting is just one aspect of the privacy issue, such a solution is no substitute for a federal baseline consumer privacy law.
CDT tested the five most popular browsers in use–Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari–and evaluated five different types of controls: General Privacy Controls, Privacy Mode, Cookie Controls, Object Controls, and Geolocation Controls.
