I. Introduction
While third party cookies enable new web functionalities it also enables new risks exposure of a person’s web history. A person’s web history can inevitably reveal personal information which if exploited could lead to bad stuff(job opp/id theft/deals/black mail/embarassement). Thus, privacy should not be an option, it should be the default. Accordingly, browsers should disable third-party cookies by default; require users to "opt-in" to 3rd-party cookies).
II. How third party cookie works and the underlying web economics
Third party cookies enables single-sign-on authentication (e.g. Facebook Login), web analytics (e.g. Google Analytics), and third-party advertisements [1].3rd-party cookies enable 'third parties' - websites other than those the user explicitly visits in their browser's address bar or sees on their screen - to record the user's browsing history. The third party can then archive, analyse, and/or trade, sell the information they've recorded [2]. If a first-party website is untrustworthy, users may decline to visit it. But, since users are unaware of the very existence of many third-party websites, they cannot reward responsible sites and penalize irresponsible sites. Thus, Risks associated with third-party tracking are heightened by the lack of market pressure to exercise good security and privacy practices
Figure 1: A list of third party tracking sites on http://www.wired.com (Disconnect)
III. Arguments for opt-in policy
Enabling 3rd party cookies by default can cause a number of security and privacy concerns.
First, the information might be intentionally or inadvertently leaked out, causing physical, psychological or economic harm to the user. For example, a disgruntled employee of an online marketing firm might sell its tracking information to unscrupulous marketers, releasing. In 2011, Epsilon Data Management LLC had hackers had accessed names and email addresses in its systems. In the days that followed, more than 40 companies—including J.P. Morgan Chase, TiVo and others—have said that their customers were among the victims [2].
Secondly, majority of consumers are not willing to be tracked. According to a TRUSTe and Harris Interactive online survey [3], 78% of respondents would not consent to website analytics tracking, 85% would not consent to web browsing tracking for relevant ad, and 54% does not like. [4] When the options are available, 68% refuse to allow companies to share their information with a third party and 52% say that they choose to opt out of online behavioral advertising.
Finally, there is precedence for this opt-in decision. In 2009 the European Union passed the E-Privacy Directive legislation which required websites to acquire visitor consent before they could install cookies [5].
Did you know that almost everything you do on the internet is being tracked and recorded in some way? In the Article, George Orwell… Meet Mark Zuckerberg, by Lori Andrews, Andrews talks about how behavioral advertising, which is the tracking of consumer’s online activities in order to bring custom-made advertisements, is a topic that is concealed to many people and can cause damage. Search engines like Google store the searches you have made and in 2006 there were search logs released which had personal information that people were judged by (Andrews 716-717). Data aggregation is the main way Facebook makes its money. Andrews believes that it’s an invasion of privacy and is not known well enough by the public. This article is aimed at young and new internet users that are ignorant of the possible dangers on the web. Lori Andrews is successful at informing novice users about the dangers of behavioral
In the Engineering and Technology Journal, two engineers, Gareth Mitchell and Guy Clapperton, gave their thoughts on both sides of the privacy issue. Is gathering information violating personal privacy? They made their arguments using currency as a metaphor for personal information and online services a product. Mitchell argues the case that giving out personal information is “too high a price to pay” (Mitchell, 2013, p. 26). He says that despite the option to opt out of cookies and certain information, many sites are more covert and make their opt out option less accessible than a pop up asking to opt out. The site makes it hard for the Internet user to say no to being tracked. Mitchell warns the reader to take more consideration into what information they are giving away and that “privacy is not to be taken for granted” (Mitchell, 2013, p. 26). Getting information from the Internet would mean tra...
Advertisement agencies use behavioral advertisement, or third party cookies, to track customers on and off their client’s website. This allows them to create specific banner ads that display content viewed and not purchased, in hopes of getting a larger customer return and purchase rate. This practice is increasing among e-commerce and is raising concerns with ethical and privacy advocators.
“Human beings are not meant to lose their anonymity and privacy,” Sarah Chalke. When using the web, web users’ information tend to be easily accessible to government officials or hackers. In Nicholas Carr’s “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” Jim Harpers’ “Web Users Get As Much As They Give,” and Lori Andrews “Facebook is Using You” the topic of internet tracking stirred up many mixed views; however, some form of compromise can be reached on this issue, laws that enforces companies to inform the public on what personal information is being taken, creating advisements on social media about how web users can be more cautious to what kind of information they give out online, enabling your privacy settings and programs, eliminating weblining,
Online data tracking good because it allows companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Twitter to give you customize Internet service for better experiences. Online tracking allows advertisers to precisely target their consumer’s needs based on their b...
One common torment of companies is that they are not renowned. Consumer personal information, including email addresses and telephone numbers, is a panacea for the companies- it provides a way for them to promote themselves by sending junk email or making phone calls.... ... middle of paper ...
Student José Amador likes to use his email account at yahoo.com. "I find paper so obsolete," he says. Amador is not worried about the privacy of this account. Perhaps he and the many other people that use yahoo email should be concerned, however. All users of Yahoo mail are having their actions tracked.
...e same time, the time has come to raise consciousness, support research and standard-setting, and prepare model codes for those systems that do employ privacy-enhancing technologies. The opportunities for individuals to customize privacy preferences, research should be conducted to evaluate alternative arrangements should be generated. On top of that, the digital applications should provide transparent criteria, including ease of understanding, adequacy of notification, compliance with standards, contractual fairness and enforceability, appropriate choice of defaults, efficiency relative to the potential benefits, and integration with other means of privacy protection. Particular attention should be paid to uniformity of protocols across different industries and applications, so that consumers are not overwhelmed by a pointless diversity of interfaces and contracts.
Cookies are the things that remember what you search and click on while using the internet. Let's say you were looking on a website for new clothes, now thirty minutes later you are on a website playing games. You
Papacharissi, Zizi, and Jan Fernback. "Online Privacy And Consumer Protection: An Analysis Of Portal Privacy Statements." Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 49.3 (2005): 259-281. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
“For DNT to work though, the sites that were visited must agree to uphold the preference to not be tracked. Although, some large companies and corporations have agreed to honor the DNT, many have refused to because it threatens advertising dollars” (Fact Sheet 18). What is even more interesting are “cookies ”. This is when the internet/computer remembers an individual’s purchases, preferences and/or personal sections such as your address and has an automatic fill button that saves into your hardware drive. With cookies there are a variety of them such as first-party cookies vs third-party cookies. With first-party cookies they use this information to make offers to repeating users online. Third-party cookies can share your information with clearinghouses an in hopes to show advisements to users anticipating they will utilities them based off of their preferences. When you blocks third-party cookies it can increase your awareness of your privacy and security online. This helps block consumer and ad pop ups around the Web. Sometimes you can even have poor Internet privacy that is linked with cookies that the user is unaware of. There are websites on the World Wide Web that have the worst Internet privacy such as Facebook Apps. A pure example is back in 2010,
However, the same personal data is being compromised and eroding privacy. Companies have been getting bolder in their attempts to gather, share and sell data. The latest trend is outsourcing data to third party companies for data processing, which can be done at a lower cost. One of the main problems with this approach is that a lot of very sensitive data is being sent, which could be harmful in the wrong hands. Most companies require their customers to "opt-out" to prevent their data from being shared with a company's affiliates. This process requires the customer to explicitly tell the company not to share their data, which is usually in the form of a web site or a survey sent in the mail. These surveys are often thrown away by consumers, so they don't even realize that they're giving the companies a green light to sell and share their data.
Many browsers keep track of where you have been on the Internet by using cookies. A cookie file is a small piece of information that a web server can store. However cookies are not without their problems. On...
Cookies are used to enable us to present appropriate messages to our customers. For example, to:
...try to ensure Internet security. More practically, marketers must try to target consumer groups more accurately. Minimizing unwanted consumer contacts may reduce the intensity and visibility of some dimensions of privacy issues. Last, marketing researchers must attempt to define privacy operationally. Much has been said and written about consumer privacy, but we still have little understanding of what information consumers consider private, why they consider it private, and whether this set of information changes situationally or in response to other factors.