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There is good news regarding protecting personal information on the internet. Google and Mozilla have just joined Microsoft in giving users the freedom of opting out of tracking cookies. Google announced that it will offer an add-on for its Chrome browser. Users will now have more freedom from tracking cookies that monitor their movement and online activities. This is a clear indication that tech companies now recognize the need for a balance between revenue generation and individual privacy.

For quite a long time, the online advertising industry has favored self-regulation. The assorted proposals made in line with protecting personal information did not achieve positive results. Debates and discussions have been conducted, but no tangible plans were carried out. This action by Google and Mozilla will launch a new chapter in gaining more control over user privacy.

As users give out their personal information, they do not realize the possible consequences of doing so. For many of them, reading the website’s privacy policies is a tedious job. They skim over the information so that they do not understand how their personal information will be handled. Later on, they will wonder why they have become targets of unsolicited advertisements. In short, their privacy has been compromised.

Tech companies have accepted the fact that they do not have to give up their revenue generation techniques. They can still make use of the benefits from the advertisements that fuel the web. All they have to do is to meet halfway between privacy and revenue production. This could be considered as a marginal enhancement, but could also hint at the start of a better dialogue on privacy.

Google’s Keep My Opt-Outs extension is free and can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. A company spokesperson said the new feature will give users significant control over their data. Mozilla also announced that it will soon release a similar tool for its Firefox browser. It said that it will apply a different approach, based on the Do Not Track HTTP header. However, it has not given a definite date for the integration of the new technology with Firefox.

Microsoft, Mozilla and Google are applying different approaches, but they all attempt to give more privacy to internet users. Ample time is needed to tell which among the three approaches will lead, or which one will be ineffective. The good thing is that these companies have opened the possibilities for improving user privacy protection through more discussions. The remaining days of 2011 are enough to achieve the goals. Users will be assured of more reliable privacy protection technology.

So how do you make certain that all personal data stays private online? Surf with an anonymous proxy to mask your IP address and protect your Internet identity.