Mayer and others argued that IE10, or any browser for that matter, should be allowed to set DNT as on by default, but gave in to keep the discussions on the standard moving. "Absolutely, browsers should be able to set a default. They set all kinds of defaults. But we, and I mean me and many of the others on the privacy-leaning side, did this to show how committed we are to DNT."

Mayer is also one of the two researchers who came up with the HTTP header concept that browsers use to communicate a user's DNT choice desire to websites.

An alternative to an automatic-on setting would be for a browser to display a dialog box the first time it's run, asking the user how he or she wants to set DNT.

At least two other browser vendors -- Mayer declined to name them -- have expressed interest in that concept, he said. "They're seriously thinking how they can position themselves against IE," Mayer said.

According to Mayer, that "first-run" option has been discussed by the DNT group, but not yet decided.