Microsoft Unveils New Privacy Feature For Internet Explorer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- An upcoming feature in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser will let users add lists of sites that they do and don't want tracking them.

The announcement Tuesday comes amid uproar over the sneaky ways websites watch their users as they bounce around the Internet. The Federal Trade Commission is proposing new rules to limit advertisers' ability to do that.

But Microsoft Corp.'s new feature comes with several drawbacks. One is that it's not automatically turned on, and another is that consumers will be responsible for creating or finding their own lists of sites they want to block.

Part of the reason for the uproar is that it's hard to tell which sites you're sharing information with. Websites use many third-party advertising partners that might use shady surveillance schemes.

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