Apple announced that version 12.1 of Safari will no longer support the DO NOT TRACK standard that claims to ensure users’ online privacy.
The Do Not Track standard was first proposed by the FEDERAL Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States. In fact, it is only a specific message sent by the browser to the website when users visit it, asking it Not to Track users. However, the standard is Not enforced and there is no penalty for failing to follow the message, so most websites ignore Do Not Track.
Do Not Track is supported by Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, although the foundation’s website is generally Not accepted. Apple started adding the technology in 2011 with OS X Lion, and users could go to their browser Settings and check “Do Not Track,” but it didn’t work at all. Conversely, when activated, the option sends a special message that makes the user a target for advertisers to track.
The W3C Tracking protection Working group responsible for this standard quietly closed the working group on January 17 and will no longer maintain standard content. As a result, Apple announced the release of version 12.1, calling the standard outdated and announcing the end of support for the security standard in name only. Safari 12.1 will enhance intelligent tracking protection, no longer support partitioned cookies for domains with cross-site tracking capabilities, and limit long-term tracking and validation of partitioned cache entries based on client cookies.
In addition to the new security features mentioned above, Safari 12.1 and SFSafariViewController will also display warnings when the system downloads unsafe web pages, and WKWebView will also support automatic display of warnings when users visit sites flagged as phishing or malicious. Finally, as reported earlier this week, Safari 12.1/ iOS 12.2 will add motion and direction sensors that limit web content and services’ access to iPhone and iPad accelerometers and gyroscopes to ensure user privacy.