Privacy BirdŽ Frequently Asked Questions


Why do I see a yellow bird at so many sites?

Web sites are just beginning to adopt a standard called P3P that allows Privacy Bird and other software to read their privacy policies automatically. As more sites adopt this standard, you should see red and green birds more and more frequently. If you are interested in trying some of the sites that have already adopted this standard, check out this list of P3P-enabled web sites.

When I see a red bird, how can I find out what is causing it to appear?

Click on the red bird, select About This Site, then select Policy Summary. At the top of the Policy Summary is information about how this site's policy differs from your personal privacy preferences.

I installed Privacy Bird but I don't see any birds? Is it installed correctly?

To verify that the program installed correctly, check to see if you have a "Privacy Bird" folder in your "Program Files" folder on your computer. If you have this folder, then the program is probably installed correctly. After logging onto the Internet, open your IE web browser. Go to http://www.privacybird.com/ Look in the top right corner of your browser and you should see a little bird. If no bird appears, go to the IE Tools menu and select Internet Options. Then go to the Advanced tab. Look for the setting "Enable third-party browser extensions" and see whether the box is checked or unchecked. If it is unchecked please check the box. Then close all your browser windows. Open IE again and see whether the Privacy Bird now appears in the top right corner.

We have discovered that for a small number of users, this beta version of Privacy Bird may conflict with other software already installed on their computers. In those cases no bird will appear, even though the software is installed correctly. We are working on trying to correct this problem.

The Microsoft Windows Update site doesn't seem to work anymore. What can I do?

Some users have reported that after installing Privacy Bird, they have trouble loading the Microsoft Windows Update web site. If you have this problem, please close the browser window in which you are trying to load the update site. Then open a new browser window. Click on the bird and select "Disable Privacy Bird." Then go back to the update site. After visiting the update site you can click on the bird and re-enable the Privacy Bird. On subsequent visits to the update site you probably will not have any additional difficulties, even if the Privacy Bird is enabled.

How can I uninstall Privacy Bird?

Find the PrivacyBirdSetup.msi file that you downloaded or download it again. Double click on it and follow the instructions to uninstall Privacy Bird from your computer.

Alternatively, you can use the following procedure to uninstall the software; however, it may not remove all of the files associated with Privacy Bird from your computer. Go to your Windows Start Menu and select Settings. Then select Control Panel. Then select Add/Remove Programs. You should see Privacy Bird on the list of programs you have installed. Select it and click the Change/Remove or Add/Remove button and follow the instructions to remove Privacy Bird from your computer.

I cannot use PrivacyBirdSetup.msi. What do I need?

If you are running Windows 98/Me you may need to download Microsoft Installer, you can download it here

Does Privacy Bird work with screen readers?

We have designed Privacy Bird to work with screen readers. However, the beta version may not work with all screen readers on all platforms. It has been tested with JAWS 4.0 and JAWS 3.7 screen readers on Windows NT and Windows 2000 platforms. It has been tested with JAWS 4.0 and Windows Eyes 4.11 screen readers on Windows 98 and Windows ME platforms.

The main menu (normally accessed by clicking on the bird icon) can be accessed by pressing the F12 key together with the Ctrl and Alt keys twice (Ctrl-Alt-F12 Ctrl-Alt-F12). It can be closed using the ESC key. All menu items can be accessed in two ways: using the standard up/down/right/left arrow keys, or using the short-cut keys announced when you have arrow positioned on an item). Once the desired menu item is selected, pressing the ENTER key will activate that item.

When a dialog box is displayed, the default button (usually 'OK') can be accessed by pressing the ENTER key. The dialog can be closed without saving by pressing the ESC key (equivalent to 'CLOSE' button). Pressing 'H' key will display the help about that dialog box wherever available. Users can navigate through the controls in the dialog box (check-boxes, radio buttons, list items, buttons, etc) by using the standard approach -- i.e., using TAB key and/or the arrow keys. Some of the controls also have short-cut keys (which are announced upon navigating through the items). Selection and data-entry in these controls uses the standard approach as well. For example, checking/unchecking of check-boxes is done by pressing the spacebar.

You can navigate through the help files just as you would with any other standard Windows Help. When the Help opens, the focus is by default on the left (Topics) frame. You can switch between the left frame and the right (Topic Help page) frame using the F6 key. In the left frame, you can navigate through the item using the up/down arrow keys, expand a book by pressing right arrow key or ENTER key, collapse a book by pressing left arrow key or ENTER key. To read a topic's help, select the desired topic on the left frame and press ENTER. This will open up the topic's content in the right frame. You can then press the F6 key to place the focus on the right frame, and the screen reader will read the entire contents of the page. You can navigate back to the left frame any time by pressing the F6 key again.

Is there a version available for Netscape?

No, not at this time.

Is there a version available for Macintosh?

No, not at this time.

Is there a version available for Windows 95?

No, Windows 98 is the oldest platform we support.