Intel is dropping the processor serial numbers from its next generation products, after their presence in the Pentium III and Celeron chips outraged the Electronic Privacy Information Center and other privacy advocates into a consumer boycott.
The identifiers disappear beginning with Intel's forthcoming Williamette processors. EPIC and other groups wanted the Federal Trade Commission to look into the serial numbering, but the FTC hasn't commented publicly yet.
Intel had held the processor serial numbers were aimed at identifying Web surfers or online chatters, as well as for e-commerce.
EPIC itself calls the Intel PSN reversal a major win for privacy. But the battle isn't exactly over just because Intel blinked. Reports indicate Microsoft is about to put into future versions of Windows software using biometric devices - fingerprint or eye scanners - to authenticate users, according to the Wall Street Journal.
And a software start-up, Predictive Networks, is said to have released a product tracking online behavior with precision, using the collected information to send targeted ads back to individual Netizens.
Still, the Intel reversal is being celebrated Net wide. Big Brother Inside, a Website which monitors privacy issues, noted American privacy advocates weren't the only ones skittish about the Intel PSNs. The Chinese government was restricting Pentium III sales - out of "national security" concerns, with Beijing ordering domestic manufacturers to turn off the PSNs and ordering government agencies not to connect Pentium III processors to the Internet.
