Microsoft To Buy Firefly Network

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it agreed to acquire privately held Firefly Network Inc., a technology provider that enables the exchange of private information on the Internet.

Microsoft said the acquisition will accelerate its ability to implement products that meet the Platform for Privacy Preferences, or P3P, privacy standards being agreed to by the World Wide Web Consortium.

Firefly, based in Cambridge, Mass., is a leading company behind the so-called Open Profiling Standard, which lets PC users manage the disclosure of personal information to merchants and others on the Internet.