"Anyone visiting Italy and wanting to use an internet point, or cafe, will need to take along their passport - and be prepared for a major invasion of their privacy, writes John Hooper."

"The tool is designed to deliver information from the Web or desktop without capturing user information. The company is expanding the capabilities of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Search Toolbar with a proactive research tool that offers users some added privacy."

"Opera Software ASA is now giving away its Web browser and removing ads in an effort to broaden its user base and capture revenues by referring traffic to search engines and e-commerce sites."

"At least two new pieces of surreptitiously installed software can hijack the most popular search engine, placing ads amid legitimate Google search results on infected PCs, a computer security company recently revealed."

"The growth of identity theft and phishing scams could kill the promise of more personalised search technologies, Steve Berkowitz, chief executive at Ask.com told IWR's sister online title vnunet.com in an interview. "The benefits to the user will be incredible, but whether the user will allow those benefits to happen over time is something that we have to wait and see," he said."

"WITH CONSUMERS INCREASINGLY CONCERNED WITH preserving online privacy, Microsoft last week stepped up its public efforts to convince consumers that the Internet is safe. The company last week said its new browser will have a feature that can warn people about known identity-stealing "phishing" sites. Adware company WhenU last year started a similar program that involves serving consumers pop-ups that warn them when they have landed on a known phishing site."

"Microsoft Corp. will soon release a security tool for its Internet browser that privacy advocates say could allow the company to track the surfing habits of computer users. Microsoft officials say the company has no intention of doing so. The new feature, which Microsoft will make available as a free download within the next few weeks, is prompting some controversy, as it will inform the company of Web sites that users are visiting."

"Today we bring you another daft, self-serving survey of Internet users that marketing types have used to generate some headline grabbing statistics. In this case, the shocking news that men are more likely to be victims of online scams and viruses than are women."

"Personalization remains something most consumers want, though their privacy fears continue to escalate. According to the second annual personalization study conducted by personalization vendor Choicestream, 80 percent of consumers in the 2005 survey were interested in receiving personalized content."

"Internet users are taking back control of their computers, and online marketers and publishers are not pleased with the results. But they don't quite know what to do about their conundrum -- if it is a conundrum, since they can't even agree on that."

"Internet users are taking back control of their computers, and online marketers and publishers are not pleased. But they do not quite know what to do about their conundrum, if it is a conundrum, since they cannot even agree on that."

"A pioneer of software that tailors pop-up ads to Internet users' browsing habits is beginning to shun a practice that has invited much derision and plenty of lawsuits. A new service Claria Corp. is launching this month will still deliver advertising to the computer desktops of Web surfers. Only this time, they won't be annoying pop-ups."

"Cyber criminals have found a new doorway into our hard drives, this time under the guise of seemingly friendly community sites, blogs and freebies. Since the beginning of the year, US security company Websense reports it has discovered more than 2500 incidents of innocuous-looking websites distributing malicious code, trojan horses and dangerous spyware designed to steal information."

"The increase in identity theft has prompted two Stanford University professors to develop software that protects computer passwords from internet thieves. John Mitchell and Dan Boneh will unveil Pwdhash, software that scrambles passwords typed into websites, then creates a unique sign-on for each site visited, at the Usenix Security Symposium in Baltimore next week."

"Because more internet users are "tossing their cookies" in order to avoid being tracked online, one company has proposed to track users through a feature in Macromedia Flash software. "Flash cookies" make it possible for websites to track users, even if they delete their normal cookies."

"... A recent study by international research advisory organization JupiterResearch has found that nearly 60 per cent of American Internet users have deleted cookies from their primary computers, with 39 per cent doing so on a monthly basis. According to the report, as more and more people block or delete cookies, it could cause the long-term measurement of consumer Web surfing behaviour to be "severely compromised.""

"Suppose you bought a TV set that included a component to track what you watched, and then reported that data back to a company that used or sold it for advertising purposes. Only nobody told you the tracking technology was there or asked your permission to use it. You would likely be outraged at this violation of privacy. Yet that kind of Big Brother intrusion goes on every day on the Internet, affecting millions of people."

"Security practitioners love to trumpet Firefox as the perfect solution to the massive amount of vulnerabilities that plague Microsoft's flagship browser, Internet Explorer. It's true that IE has more than its fair share of problems. At the very least, it's an easy target for spyware. But is Firefox a better alternative for providing users a safe browsing experience?"

"Online marketers are scrambling to protect one of the key tools of their trade: the cookie. Faced with reports showing that more and more computer users regularly delete the tracking files automatically downloaded by Web browsers, marketers and Web site publishers are launching a "cookies can be good for you" campaign. They argue that cookies - small files that Web sites use to identify users and to serve up ads - don't deserve their bad reputation and shouldn't be lumped with such Web scourges as spyware and viruses."

"ADVERTISING GIANT Doubleclick recently warned that the arrival of new ad-blocking software in browsers would kill-off free content on the Net. I was so shocked I turned off my image and pop-up blockers immediately for fear of actually having to pay for the virtual universe of crap I have to wade through for diamonds every day."

"Microsoft has detailed its forthcoming privacy and security plans, which include enhancements to Internet Explorer 7 and the addition of digital rights management software into applications at document level. Despite earlier plans not to do a browser update until Longhorn's release in 2006, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates confirmed that code for IE 7 will be available this summer in beta and in full by Christmas. The browser will incorporate antivirus technology from recently acquired Sybari, and enhanced anti-phishing software."

"Internet censorship in Iran is amongst the most restrictive and sophisticated in the world, a technical study has revealed. And much of the filtering technology in use was developed by western companies."