Internet Explorer 5.5 Bakes New Cookie Management

As part of an effort to increase privacy during online browsing, Microsoft has released betas of several new cookie management features added to its Internet Explorer software. This comes as part of Microsoft's .NET movement, and comes as a response to user feedback and prior confusion in the area concerning cookies and the way they function. It is just the first step in increased privacy measures being undertaken at Microsoft, which may include P3P specifications in the future.

With the new features, netizens will be given a better understanding of the different types of cookies set by Web sites, and where they originate from. More alerts and prompts will be given when cookies are set, and an easier way to delete and manage them will be added.

According to the press release, the following tools will be added:

Consumer notification for cookies. The new enhancements to Internet Explorer present a balanced discussion of cookies and help consumers to differentiate between first- and third-party cookies. Additionally, the cookie notification default setting will prompt consumers any time a third-party persistent cookie -- a cookie that remains on the consumer's hard drive for a specified period of time -- is being served to the consumer's machine. The default response for all cookie confirmation prompts is for the cookie to be accepted.

Cookie control. A "delete all cookies" button has been added on the primary Internet Options page. This provides a mechanism for easily deleting all cookies from all locations on a consumer's hard drive in the event that the consumer does not want to receive any of the customization that cookies provide.

Help. New help topics are added that more specifically address cookies and cookie management. Also, new top-level items are added to the help menu to allow users quicker access to security and privacy information.

For more information on the new features, read the press release at Microsoft PressPass.