Microsoft offers web browser choice to IE users

Millions of European Internet Explorer (IE) users will have the option to choose an alternative browser from 1 March, Microsoft has announced.

It follows a legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission in December 2009.

Microsoft committed to letting Windows PC users across Europe install the web browser of their choice, rather than having Microsoft IE as a default.

Figures suggest that over half the world's internet users have IE.

Testing for the update is already underway in the UK, Belgium and France.

The software update choice will arrive automatically for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 customers, according to a blog post by Dave Heiner, Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel.

The blog also contains screen grabs of the message as it will appear.

"Users who get the choice screen will be free to choose any browser or stick with the browser they have, as they prefer," wrote Mr Heiner.

Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera are among the alternative browsers that people will be offered.

"Millions of people who have never really thought about which browser to use will now be forced to make a choice," said BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones on his blog.

"That presents Microsoft's rivals with a unique marketing opportunity."

Mozilla Foundation chair Mitchell Baker described the news as "an important milestone towards helping people take control of their online lives."

E-mage: a new tool to secure personal information online

An increasing number of internet users are now taking the help of a new online identity security system --e-mage-- to secure their personal data over the cyberworld .

"At E-mage management, we help people to hunt for their fake profiles online on different websites and social networking groups that defame their entities, posing problems for them in seeking jobs, etc.," Karnika Seth, Cyber lawyer and provider of E-mage service, said.

"What we do is after having fetched such profiles, we sort out ways and means to get them deleted permanently," she said.

On an average, Seth addresses one such case every week. There has been an increasing number of fake profiles online on different websites like blogs, microblogs or social networking sites where fraudsters avenge their grudge or harass someone by creating their profile online that hampers his or her reputation.

"These fake profiles not only affect an individual on the personal level by creating difficulties in employment, ruining his or her social and professional connections, damaging reputation, but it also has an effect on their finances, in case of customers' or corporate data being stolen," another cyber crime specialist said.

Rashmi Sood (name changed), a researcher with a firm in the US, had sought the help of e-mage management to deal with her derogatory 'fake profile' which someone had created.

"I was not getting a job despite being the best in my field because someone had created an online fake profile of mine that had derogatory remarks about me.

"Here abroad, employers conduct an online screening of individuals before incorporating them in their organization. When I enquired with the organization, they directed me to this respective website."

Sood had registered a case with the police but it yielded no results, after which she turned to e-mage management for help.

"The police is not well trained or equipped to handle cyber crime cases and as such most of the time such cases are not registered. Even if they are registered, there is no investigation. That is why despite the IT Act being so old, conviction rate in cyber crime cases till date is only three," another cyber lawyer said.

Source : The Economic Times

Firefox Plans to Develop a New Privacy Tool

Most know their movements are tracked while they surf the web (primarily for advertising reasons) and some of us even use additional software tools to help reduce of that tracking.   One of tools I use is Firefox (instead of Internet Explorer). With Firefox, I have a little more contrrol over my privacy and advertising.

For those who don't know what Firefox is, it's an internet browser (like Internet Explorer). I've been using it for years, but only started recommending it to my clients in past couple of years.  Before Internet Explorer 7 was released, Firefox confused a lot of people.  But now that Microsoft has copied Firefox (with the release of IE7), more and more people are comfortable using it.

The new "Do Not Track" feature (when enabled) will basically tell web sites that you've opted-out of online advertising behavior.  In response, they're not supposed to track your movements through their site for advertising purposes.

No doubt, some sites will try to counteract  this feature by posting messages that some features of their site may not function properly with the "do not track" feature enabled.  My response .... ignore the messages. As long as you're seeing and doing what want a web site, there's no reason to disable the feature.


For more information about the "Do Not Track" privacy tool in Firefox, click here.