Concerns over Internet privacy in the past have spurred consumer anxiety and several lawsuits as marketers look for innovative ways for tracking usage pattern of people on the Internet. In fact, in the next couple of years, a highly powerful new suite of capabilities will be available to Web developers. They are expected to provide advertisers and marketers with near-total access to complete details about users’ online activities performed on their home or office computers.

A New York Times report states that extra capabilities, which are an integral aspect of the Web language soon to power the Internet, will increase privacy worries for Internet users. Nearly everyone using the Internet is bound to face the privacy risks, to arrive along with those enhanced capabilities. The Web code being developed is apparently Hypertext Markup Language’s fifth version employed for creating Web pages.

HTML 5: The new Web of tomorrow

According to a section of software developers, HTML 5 is the new Web of tomorrow that will soon be powering the Internet. Incidentally, the fifth version of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) utilized for creating Web page is already in use, albeit limited.  It sure promises to unleash a new era of Internet surfing.

Most users would want to welcome the extra features that form part of it. HTML 5 is expected to make it quite easy for Internet users to see multimedia content sans downloading any added software; view e-mail offline, or locate any of their favorite shop or restaurant on a smartphone.  Though many are enthusiastic about the dramatic changes, a few experts are slightly more cautious.  Let us find out why!

Most online users are well familiar with those ‘harmless’ cookies. The cookies make it possible, for instance, to log on to sites sans having to retype specific user names/passwords, or to maintain track of items put in virtual shopping carts prior to buying them.

More ‘tracking’ opportunities

The Web language with its additional features offer many more tracking opportunities since the technology is based on a process in which a huge amount of data can be compiled and then stored on the user’s hard drive while (he or she is) online.Owing to that process, advertisers could, experts point out, check personal data – weeks or even months old. That could consist of a user’s time zone, location, photos, text from blogs, e-mails, shopping cart contents, and a complete history of the webpages.

Evidently, the new Web language provides trackers with one more option to put tracking data into, according to technology experts.  California based World Privacy Forum’s executive director Pam Dixon, underlines the fact that HTML 5 will open Pandora’s box in terms of tracking in the Internet. The World Wide Web Consortium Representatives state they are treating issues regarding user privacy seriously.

According to a consortium spokesperson, the process of development for the new Web language would incorporate an open public review to ensure complete accountability. Meanwhile, marketers are not complaining, at all…