Microsoft Browser Would Offer Personalization Along With Privacy Protection

Microsoft researchers have developed RePriv, a Web browser that analyzes users' online behavior and controls how their personal information is released to Web sites that want to offer them services.

"The browser knows more about the user's behavior than any individual site," says Microsoft researcher Ben Livshits. RePriv tracks users' behavior to identify their top interests. If a user visits a site that wants to offer personalization, the browser will give the user the option of providing the information. Although RePriv does provide Web sites with some data about the user, it does not take total control over the user's information, Livshits says.

"There is a clear tension between privacy and personalized technologies, including recommendations and targeted ads," says Stanford Security Laboratory's Elie Bursztein. "Putting the user in control by moving personalization into the browser offers a new way forward."

From Technology Review
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