Electronic passage through the Internet leaves a trail that can be traced. Tracing is a process that follows the Internet activity backwards, from the recipient to the user. As well, a user's Internet activity on web sites can also be tracked on the recipient site i.e., what sites are visited and how often. Sometimes this tracking and tracing ability is used to generate email to the user promoting a product that is related to the sites visited. User information, however, can also be gathered covertly. This leaves us wondering if tracking devices violates the user's privacy.
There are different types of tracking devices; most common one is called cookies. Cookies are computer files that are stored on a user's computer during a visit to a web site. When the user electronically enters the web site, the host computer automatically loads the file(s) to the user's computer.
The cookie is a tracking device, which records the electronic movements made by the user at the site, as well as identifiers such as a username and password. Commercial web sites make use of cookies to allow a user to establish an account on the first visit to the site and so to avoid having to enter account information i.e., address, credit card number, financial activity on subsequent visits. User information can also be collected unbeknown to the user and subsequently used for whatever purpose the host intends.
Cookies are files, and so can be transferred from the host computer to another computer. This can occur legally i.e., selling of a subscriber mailing list or illegally i.e., "hacking in" to a host computer and copying the file. Also, cookies can be acquired as part of a law enforcement investigation.
A program called Adware could potentially be another source of tracking device. Adware is software integrated into or bundled with a program. It is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.
There are concerns about adware because it often takes the form of spyware,another internet tracking device. Spyware is like a cookie, in which information about the user's activity is tracked, reported, and often re-sold, often without the knowledge or consent of the user. Of even greater concern is malware, which may interfere with the function of other software applications, in order to force users to visit a particular web site.
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.
...llow you on their sites without the ability of planting or accept some form of a cookie. In this case you can use Safe cookies. A safe cookie allows you to accept cookies safely so you can surf WebPages without being tracked or monitored by the Website. The cookies are encrypted, very much like the URL encryption, and automatically erased when you leave the site.
Automatic Information: We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, like many Web sites, we use "cookies," and we obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses Amazon.com. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see examples of the information we receive. A number of companies offer utilities designed to help you visit Web sites anonymously. Although we will not be able to provide you with a personalized experience at Amazon.com if we cannot recognize you, we want you to be aware that these tools exist.
“Human beings are not meant to lose their anonymity and privacy,” Sarah Chalke said. When using the web, web users’ information tends 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 require companies to inform the public on what personal information is being taken, creating advice on social media about how web users can be more cautious about what kind of information they give out online, enabling your privacy settings and programs, eliminating weblining, and also by attacking this problem by offering classes for the youth on the internet. Weblining tracks a web user’s information when using the internet, the information that is taken is then used to try to sell items to the user. Carr informs readers on how weblining works: “Already, advertisers are able to infer extremely personal details about people by monitoring their web-browsing habits.
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...
6. Daniel Lin, Michael C. Loui, "Taking the Byte Out of Cookies: Privacy, Consent, and the Web" Computers and Society, June 1998.
Part of the allure of the Internet has always been the anonymity it offers its users. As the Internet has grown however, causing capitalists and governments to enter the picture, the old rules are changing fast. E-commerce firms employ the latest technologies to track minute details on customer behavior. The FBI's Carnivore email-tracking system is being increasingly used to infringe on the privacy of netizens. Corporations now monitor their employees' web and email usage. In addition to these privacy infringements, Internet users are also having their use censored, as governments, corporations, and other institutions block access to certain sites. However, as technology can be used to wage war on personal freedoms, it can also be employed in the fight against censorship and invasion of privacy.
Once inside a system, spyware can gather e-mail addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers. This gathered information is then transmitted across the internet to the author of the spyware, who then uses the newly gained information to determine which ads should target...
In a world where people have become dependent on technology, we can access any type of information as well as provide information to the Internet. This causes a great amount of knowledge for anyone to use to their content, whether it be for malicious or benign purposes. However, whether the reasons are behind this, there is always a trace of something left behind in an electronic devices history. By tapping into a person’s history, one can found out exactly what a person does when they are online. In Singer’s essay, he stated that it is possible to create a ‘Panopticon’ where the government has a visual observation on its citi...
Web site administrators say that the primary purpose of cookies is not to track Internet surfing habits. Rather they argue that cookies allow users to customize their experiences on the web. Services like My Yahoo would not work nearly as smoothly without cookies.
“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,
A major reason the U.S. needs to increase restrictions on the type and amount of data collected on individuals from the internet is due to the fact that the United States government can track communications and browsing histories of private citizens without warrant or cause. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, ...
Thanks to the HTTP, a web server running some simple software programs can acquire our IP address and then gather information about us from our own computer. This information can be anywhere from what kind of software the computer is running to gaining access to all our email contacts. Sometimes less desirabl...