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On Monday an went out from a who鈥檚 who of major corporations claiming a mandate to track all of us on the internet. In tone and substance, it is an amazing, over-the-top screed against efforts to give consumers even modest controls over who watches us as we surf online.

The letter was triggered by in May that when it ships its new browser, IE 10, the browser鈥檚 default setting will be Do Not Track. Microsoft heard the of its users and is giving them the default setting they want鈥攏o tracking of their movements and habits online. Consumers who want to get targeted ads will still be able to do so鈥攁nd in fact will get a chance to turn that preference on when the program loads. As we said at the time, this is exactly the right decision, a powerful tool for giving back American鈥檚 their privacy online.

The Association of Network Advertisers (ANA), which organized the letter, is a major industry group; the letter is signed by 36 major corporations including General Mills, American Express, General Motors, Verizon, Visa, Walmart, Bank of America, and many others. To say they are unhappy with Microsoft鈥檚 decision seems to be a major understatement:

[T]his action was shocking 鈥� Since the initial letter, Microsoft鈥檚 announcement has been uniformly met with outrage, opposition, and declarations that Microsoft鈥檚 action is wrong. The entire media ecosystem has condemned this action.

Why?

Microsoft鈥檚 Internet Explorer Browser currently has a 43 percent market share in the United States. By setting the Internet Explorer browser to block data collection, Microsoft鈥檚 action could potentially eliminate the ability to collect web viewing data of up to 43 percent of the browsers used by Americans.

Keep in mind that many in the past, when the default was allowing consumers to be tracked. The letter actually says, 鈥渋t is clear that a default 鈥榦ff鈥� setting for consumers to control online data collection strikes the right balance for society as a whole.鈥� Even if it鈥檚 directly against the of the citizens who make up that society? It鈥檚 hard to reach any conclusion but that companies were fine with giving consumers a choice as long as they assumed it wouldn鈥檛 be exercised.

The letter also trots out the canard that the free internet is at stake and portrays this as a decision that prevents the ad-supported internet. Of course this is completely untrue. Ads will always be part of a free service鈥攖hey just won鈥檛 be ads that build an elaborate model for constant, real time tracking. In fact there is a long history of immensely popular, free content supported by ads鈥攊t鈥檚 called network television.

Perhaps the most revealing part of the ANA letter comes right at the beginning. It鈥檚 addressed 鈥淒ear Steve, Brad, and Craig.鈥� They are respectively Microsoft鈥檚 CEO, General Counsel and Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Steve Ballmer, Brad Smith, and Craig Mundie. It鈥檚 the address you鈥檇 use with a friend. In some ways the letter reads like a message to dear friends who have disappointed you with their errors and wrongheaded action. Perhaps this sense of betrayal means that Microsoft is onto something. By supporting Do Not Track, they are putting up a real barrier to pervasive online surveillance. That seems like a strong reason to send a clear message to companies to protect our privacy online.

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