IP: MICROSOFT QUIETLY SHADOWS WEB SURFERS ACROSS MSN SITES Edupage, September 18 2000

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Microsoft said last week that its privacy policy does not
> address its method of identifying people who surf its online
> network.  The issue is central to one of the latest worries over
> Internet privacy--companies' ability to identify surfers who
> travel across various sites.  After Washington-based consultancy
> PCHelp posted an advisory, Microsoft disclosed that cross-domain
> visitors are redirected to a single server that gives them an
> MSID identifier, which in turn tracks each visitor over the
> company's Web sites.  "This mechanism of redirects allows cookie
> data to be carried invisibly from one domain to another, and for
> matching cookies to be created," wrote PCHelp in its advisory.
> Following a complaint that Microsoft was using third-party
> cookies working across different domains, Microsoft patched its
> Internet Explorer browser to give users better understanding and
> more control.  Microsoft promised that a new version of its
> privacy policy, due in early October, will clarify the
> tracking method. (CNet, September 13 2000)