Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P)
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4/8/2010
Web users are becoming increasingly concerned that Web sites can create complete user identities based on the information collected through cookies.
Internet Explorer Mobile 6 supports the desktop Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) functionality that provides advanced cookie filtering. Cookie filtering evaluates a Web site's privacy practices and decides which cookies are acceptable.
The following list provides definitions for terms that are new and widely used in P3P:
- Compact policies
Compact policies are condensed P3P policies that cover the use of cookies in a condensed form. For more information about the P3P project, see see the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) Project specification at this official W3C Web site.
- First party cookies
First-party cookies are cookies that are associated with the host domain. For example, if a user visits www.wideworldimporters.com by typing this URL in the address bar, then the cookies from www.wideworldimporters.com are in a first-party context.
- Third party cookies
Third-party cookies originate from any other domain. For example, if a user visits www.wideworldimporters.com that contains a www.wingtiptoys.com banner ad, then cookies from www.wingtiptoys.com are in a third-party context.
- Leashed cookies
A leashed cookie is one that is only sent on requests to download first-party content. When requests are made for third-party content, these cookies are not sent to the requesting domain.
- Unsatisfactory cookies
An unsatisfactory cookie contains or allows access to, personally identifiable information that is used for unstated purposes or provided to unstated recipients without user consent.
- Session Cookies
Cookies that do not have a specified expiration time are regarded as session cookies and are discarded when Internet Explorer is closed.
- Persistent Cookies
Persistent cookies are cached locally and are discarded only when they reach their defined expiration time.
- Downgraded cookies
A downgraded cookie is a persistent cookie that is deleted when the browsing session ends or the cookie expires, whichever comes first.
The following topics contain information about the components of the P3P functionality.
Privacy Notification User Interface
You can configure P3P through registry settings. For more information, see WinInet Registry Settings.
For more information about Web privacy, see Privacy in Internet Explorer 6 at this Microsoft Web site.