Mr. Lynch (blogs.technet.com)

We're pretty sure that the vast majority of Betabeat users not only don't use Internet Explorer, but also passionately despise it. But we'll give props when props are due, and despite Microsoft's one out of four star rating from the EFF on privacy, the company now appears to be taking a stronger stand on the issue.

Microsoft announced on its blog yesterday that Mozilla's Do Not Track feature would be automatically implemented within all copies of Internet Explorer 10. The move, Microsoft says, will empower users to make more informed decisions about the way third parties handle their data.

According to Brendon Lynch, Microsoft's chief privacy officer:

We believe that consumers should have more control over how information about their online behavior is tracked, shared and used. Online advertising is an important part of the economy supporting publishers and content owners and helping businesses of all shapes and sizes to go to market....Of course, we hope that many consumers will see this value and make a conscious choice to share information in order to receive more personalized ad content. For us, that is the key distinction.

Unsurprisingly, advertising companies are in a tizzy about the decision--particularly the Digital Advertising Alliance, of which Microsoft is a member. Enabling Do Not Track cripples the industry's ability to serve highly-tailored ads based on a user's web activity. Stu Ingis, general counsel of the alliance, told the Wall Street Journal "that the industry supports 'consumer choice, not a choice made by one browser or technology vendor.'"

Of course, Mr. Ingis missed the point: Customers should be allowed to choose to opt in, not be forced to opt out.

(Photo: Scott Beale, Laughing Squid)

The Mozilla Foundation has been working hard to combat privacy issues spotlighted by sites like Facebook, which aggressively tracks and saves user data. Recently, Mozilla announced a "Do Not Track" feature that can be deployed through the Firefox browser that better protects your information. According to the Do Not Track site, "When the feature is enabled, Firefox will tell advertising networks and other websites and applications that you want to opt-out of tracking for purposes like behavioral advertising."

Today, Twitter announced that it will participate in Do Not Track so that Twitter users who have the feature implemented in their browsers can better control their data and personal information. "The Federal Trade Commission's CTO, Ed Felten, just mentioned Twitter now supports Do Not Track," the company tweeted this morning. "We applaud the FTC's leadership on DNT."

This is the second time this month that Twitter has explicitly aligned itself with its users. A few weeks ago, it refused to turn over user data to the government without a search warrant.

Mr. Eich

Last week, a shitstorm erupted in the Twittersphere (as shitstorms are wont to do).  The cause: The discovery that, in 2008, Mozilla co-founder and JavaScript inventor Brendan Eich donated $1,000 to California’s notorious anti-gay-marriage legislation Proposition 8.

This donation isn’t exactly news--the record has been available since 2008, says the LA Times. But last Tuesday the story tore through Twitter like norovirus through a college dorm, and the dust-up is available in all its enraged glory over at Storify. Negative reactions range from Arran Ross-Paterson’s relatively moderate, “Not cool @brendaneich not cool at all projects.latimes.com/prop8...@mozilla” to UX evangelist Aral Balkan’s infuriated, “So I take what I said yesterday back, there's no way I'll ever do anything with @mozilla as long as @brendaneich is CTO. #wontworkwithbigots.”(It should be noted that Mozilla’s name was on the record simply because California requires donors to list their employers.)

Eich responded with a blog post calling allegations of bigotry “false and unjust” and saying “the donation does not in itself constitute evidence of animosity.” Which doesn't really answer the criticisms, but okay.

But does Eich’s gay-unfriendly donation really warrant for an immediate boycott of everything he’s ever touched professionally? Programmer Tom Morris (who identifies himself as “gay and proud” in his Twitter bio and isn’t exactly supportive of Eich’s donation) pushed back: “Brendan Eich thing is disappointing. No, you shouldn't boycott Firefox or JavaScript, nor is he the spawn of Satan. It's just sad.”

As for Mozilla, it’s not like everything was sunshine and pudding cups before this particular imbroglio. Best case scenario, they’ve got Chrome breathing down their necks on browser market share. Fallout from a four-year-old donation isn't likely to make a difference on that front.