PRIVACY FRONT AND CENTER:

Do-not-track mode is an HTTP setting that allows users to stop Web from tracking their online behavior. Advertising and analytics companies have pushed strongly for Microsoft not to enable do-not-track by default, as this would undercut their ability to provide user data for targeting ads and analyzing online behavior.

While the issue is complicated -- for one thing, websites have to voluntarily comply with the do-not-track request -- Microsoft's stated pro-consumer reasons for its stance highlight just how important online privacy is to today's users. But is IE 10 going to be the new standard for Web privacy? Let's see how other top browsers handle the issue.

Google announced in February that it plans to add a do-not-track button to Chrome before the end of the year. While it hasn't happened yet, there's a browser extension available for Chrome that can provide this functionality.