PRIVACY advocates say a shift by Microsoft could effectively marginalize a particularly intrusive use of Web bugs, the tracking and profiling devices used by online marketers and spammers.
Last month Microsoft retooled its Hotmail service, adding a feature that allows users to block Web bugs placed inside e-mail messages. A similar option exists in the most recent version of Microsoft's widely used Outlook Express e-mail program, and the company says the next release of its other e-mail program, Outlook, will block the tracking mechanisms by default.
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