Welcome back faithful readers!

Remember I said yesterday that part 1 was only the beginning of the Big Brother Browser? Well, let’s continue….

After the first two initial set-up screens, I received the next in the series of setup options. This one requesting that I choose my default options.

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Simple enough right? Accept the Microsoft default (express) settings for accelerators or customize my own.

If you were to click through this screen without reading, you would ultimately end up with everything Microsoft!

Okay, in fairness, yes, it is their browser. Yes, they should be allowed to steer you to their own applications. And yes, they did remember that my default search provider was Google and they didn’t try to change that. One point for Microsoft.

However, does it say at all on that screen what the heck an accelerator is? NO.

Do you know what any of these things do? NO.

So, let’s delve a bit deeper, shall we?

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Upon closer examination, accelerators bear a striking resemblance to Firefox’s extensions. Little programs or widgets that make your browsing experience your own.

For those not familiar with Firefox extensions, these are third party additions you install to your browser that make Firefox your own. Around here, they call me the extension queen because I have so many. Some make my work as a webmaster for our clients easier, some help me with my security research, and yet others are just plain fun.

They are the ones I chose. They are trusted. I know these open source folks wouldn’t try to pull one over on me – so I believe until proven otherwise.

But why should I trust Microsoft’s accelerators? What reason has Microsoft given me to want to trust them?

Okay, so let’s just assume for another brief, fleeting moment that Microsoft might be willing to provide me with some great stuff and there is no ulterior motive. Once again, that fleeting moment is just that – fleeting. Within a nano-second, my cynicism returns!

Look closely at the settings image again.

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Do you see the last line in the express settings that says: Turn on SmartScreen Filter (recommended)?

I read that and thought to myself, did they change the name of the ClearType function?

You may not even know you were using it, but it is a setting within IE 7 that cleans up the fonts and makes them more readable. But upon closer examination, ClearType is still there!

So what the heck is a smart screen filter then? If it’s not clearing up my screen? (Note the misleading verbiage here with the name SmartScreen Filter!)

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So Microsoft, isn’t this really an anti-phishing filter????

Oh, I’m sorry! I’m wrong! An anti-phishing filter just tells you a website is bad, your SmartScreen Filter is going to gather data on all my visits to phishing sites! I see!

Microsoft, isn’t the name of this RECOMMENDED tool a bit misleading though?

Oh, I see! None of us would actually use it if we knew what it really was! I get it!

Folks, look carefully at the image above that explains what this is REALLY doing! Do you see the circled portion where it says, “the IP” address? It should in fact say, YOUR IP address!

So, by now you should have a pretty clear picture of the Big Brother Browser by Microsoft. And you may say to yourself, “Ok, so what’s wrong with the data gathering? Seems harmless enough.” Right? WRONG!

Read their Privacy Policy in full and if you don’t have the time, look at this portion:

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Let me spell it out for you just in case you can’t read it (my emphasis added):

Microsoft may access and/or disclose information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with the legal process served on Microsoft; ….

Who’s the law? BIG BROTHER! You cannot give, even under the legal process, what you don’t have!

Am I saying that Microsoft is in with the government for some kind of conspiracy? No! What I’m telling you is wake up and look at what is happening here! Little by little you are surrendering your rights to privacy all in the name of having a great browsing experience!

This is NOT what net neutrality is about! This is NOT what the FREE INTERNET was designed for!

Now, perhaps Microsoft has not done this with the sole purpose of spying on you for the sake of giving your information to the government. Maybe there’s another motive? Ya think?

I had one of those gut feelings that they were up to something when I wrote the first post yesterday. I just didn’t know how or what they were up to. But this morning the light bulb went off for me!

Microsoft has agreed to purchase Greenfield Research, the parent company of Ciao – a shopping comparison site.

While the NetworkWorld article is relating this to Microsoft’s need to add this (Ciao) to their Live Search (which would never even begin to compare with Google anyway), Microsoft is expected to sell off Greenfield to an unnamed buyer immediately after purchase.

Market Watch reports the same but specifies that:

Microsoft said it will sell off Greenfield’s main business — Internet survey solutions — to an unnamed financial buyer. The unit sells consumer opinions in the form of surveys to marketing research companies. (Source: MarketWatch)

Are you connecting the dots yet? Maybe they will sell off Greenfield, maybe they won’t but isn’t there a HUGE amount of money to be made in having millions of statistical data about the way users surf the Internet for advertisers?

Wikipedia references research done showing that in the second quarter of 2008, Microsoft still held 78.3% of the browser market share.

Now, take that 78.3% of the market share and look at the big picture of Internet users:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

If you don’t want to click the link, let me summarize for you.

1,463,632,361 total Internet users across the globe estimated at the end of the second quarter of 2008. That’s 1 BILLION, 463 MILLION, 632 THOUSAND, 361 Users! Now, if my basic math serves me correctly, approximately 78% of that figure would be: 114,163,324 users of Internet Explorer. (+ or – a few)

And even if I’m wrong on my math, you’re still talking about a h*** of a lot of user statistics! What’s that value on the open market? To be able to sell the browsing habits of THAT MANY users to advertisers? What’s it worth Microsoft? Inquiring minds want to know!

I don’t know about any of you folks, but I usually get paid for my opinions by doing online surveys where I earn sweepstakes entries and Amazon gift certificates to supplement my fun money. Sorry Microsoft, but I’m NOT going to give it away for NOTHNG! Not even to you!

And, while doing the research for this post, the following was just issued by ITWorld not less than 3 hours ago (depending upon where you are in the world) - with my emphasis added:

August 29, 2008, 09:29 AM — WebWereld Netherlands —
A privacy feature built into the second beta version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 browser aren’t as private as advertised.

The InPrivate Browsing feature in Microsoft’s latest browser is designed to delete a user’s browsing history and other personal data that is gathered and stored during regular browsing sessions. The feature is commonly referred to as ‘porn mode’ for its ability to hide which websites have been visited from nosy spouses or employers.

Forensic experts however found it trivial to retrieve the history, according to a test by Webwereld, an IDG affiliate in the Netherlands, and Fox IT, a Dutch firm specializing in IT security and forensic research.

“The privacy option in this beta is mainly cosmetic. For a forensic investigator, retrieving the browsing history should be regarded as peanuts,” said Christian Prickaerts, forensic IT expert with Fox IT.

To prevent login details, online orders and other sensitive information from leaking out, the privacy feature prevents Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 from storing any cookies. The browser furthermore refrains from storing the browsing history in the Windows registry.

But researchers were able to retrieve data displaying general information about the browser’s behavior. Although URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) aren’t stored, Prickaerts was still able to restore the browsing history. “The remaining records in the history file still enable me to deduce which websites have been visited,” said Prickaerts.

Even more data is stored in the browser’s cache, a feature designed to speed up performance of websites by storing a copy of recently accessed information on a user’s hard disk. InPrivate Browsing failed to disable this feature. Users seeking a higher level of privacy could manually delete the cache, but it can later easily be retrieved through commonly available forensic tools.
(Source: http://www.itworld.com/internet/54575/privacy-feature-internet-explorer-8-leaks-private-data)

And believe me, I’ve got more on THIS additional subject too! So look for Part 3 here tomorrow!