New, Free Online Privacy Tool For Consumers Unveiled

BOSTON, Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Abine, the leading provider of online privacy solutions for consumers looking to regain control over their personal information, announced today the official release of its new product, Do Not Track Plus (DNT+), a simple and effective tool that gives privacy back to consumers. DNT+ makes it easy for anyone to see when they're being tracked online and stop being profiled by social networks, large advertisers, and data collection companies, including Google and Facebook. The product takes a major step towards enabling consumers to control their privacy online as evidenced by over one million beta downloads.

DNT+ is the first product to launch in Abine's collection of new privacy DNT+ tools scheduled for release this year. The tool is available today at Abine.com for free. Once installed, DNT+ blocks hundreds of trackers that collect, use, and sell consumers' personal information. The tool works seamlessly with all major browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. It blocks tracking across hundreds of websites, including those with whom consumers share most of their personal information.

Abine is 100 percent consumer focused and never collects or sells its customers' data. Abine's customers can trust Abine with their privacy because its business model is based entirely on revenue from sales of its products. Customers can visit Abine.com for free information about how to improve their privacy as well as find tools and services. Abine products are designed with people in mind: they're easy to use and put control in consumers' hands. Abine's single-click download enables users to get DNT+ without sharing any personal information.

DNT+ can speed up website loading by up to four times, and allows DNT+ consumers to see who is tracking them on each website they visit with a simple numbered icon in the corner of their browser window. Consumers can elect to block or allow the tracking at the individual website level. By doing so, consumers regain control of information while shopping, playing games, socializing, and more, and prevent real problems that can occur from profiling such as identity theft, reduced credit score ratings, and loss of employment.

The average web user is tracked by more than 100 technologies every day. By using DNT+, they can:

-- Stop advertisers from knowing everything they do online, including site visits, shopping interests, hobbies, clicks, and geographic location -- See how they're being tracked on millions of websites -- Block a growing list of 580 different tracking technologies and more than 200 tracking companies -- Improve web page load times by up to 4x -- Block social tracking while still being able to voluntarily use social-sharing buttons, a feature that's exclusive to DNT+ -- Keep a running count of who's tracking them with DNT+'s block counter -- Browse in true privacy, far beyond what built-in "private browsing modes" offer "At Abine, our mission is to give every consumer control back over their private information online," said Bill Kerrigan, CEO of Abine. "Do Not Track Plus is a big proof point in fulfilling that mission, instantly revealing the companies tracking you so you can block them and know that your private online activities are staying private."

In response to a report last year by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University that criticized other blocking products as difficult to use, Abine's R&D team carefully reviewed the findings and built DNT+ to address many of the researchers' concerns. Specifically, DNT+ explains clearly how it works and what it does, providing an easy to use interface that is built specifically for consumers.

"There are a lot of concerns about the amount of personal information now being collected in the digital age and consumers need easier-to-use tools to help them make informed choices they won't regret in the future," said Lorrie Cranor, an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and director of The CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Lab (CUPS).

With recent funding from leading venture capitalist firms Atlas Ventures and General Catalyst Partners, and an experienced executive team from the fields of online security and privacy, Abine is putting the most high-powered, yet consumer friendly, technology in the hands of consumers. Abine expects the number of consumers using privacy tools to better control the sharing of their personal information to increase by more than 100 percent in 2012.

About Abine

Abine provides consumers with online privacy solutions that are innovative, easy to use, and actually work. With proven tools, Abine enables people to both benefit from the Web and retain control over their most personal information. Abine is backed by premier venture capital firms Atlas Ventures and General Catalyst Partners. Abine: The Online Privacy Company (TM). Abine.com.