Google accused of circumventing Apple’s Safari privacy protectionsFebruary 17, 2012 - 21:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Google has been accused of getting around privacy protections in Apple’s Safari browser, tracking users’ behaviour without telling them, ITPro reported citing Wall Street Journal. Safari is designed to block such tracking by default, but specially-crafted cookies allowed Google to watch over user activity, the report claimed. That code was found by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer, but it was technical adviser to the WSJ Ashkan Soltani who found that ads on 22 of the top 100 websites ran code on a test computer. Ads on 23 of those sites installed the cookies on a Safari browser on an iPhone. Google has now disabled to code after being contacted by the WSJ. The company claimed the paper had “mischaracterised what happened and why.” “We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It's important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information,” an official statement read. Microsoft jumped on the report, claiming it was “not new.” “The novelty here is that Google apparently circumvented the privacy protections built into Apple’s Safari browser in a deliberate, and ultimately, successful fashion,” a blog post from the company’s Ryan Galvin read. Galvin went on to boast about the protections Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 offered. Other major Web 2.0 companies have come under fire for their privacy practices this month. Twitter admitted it was hoarding iPhone users’ contact details earlier this week. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |