Personally Identifiable Information (Pii) and Ethics: Use of Cookies
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Ethics: Use of Cookies
Cookie Trails
In today’s era of technology, many people are concerned about internet privacy. Most concerns are usually sparked by misinformation. One piece of technology that is most misunderstood is the cookie and its uses.
Many people believe that cookies are programs that can transfer viruses onto their computers. This is absolutely false. Cookies are typically harmless. Cookies are little text files left on your hard disk by some websites you visit (Williams & Stacy C. Sawyer, 2013, p.105). These text files store information about the user like preferences, log-in name, and password.
Cookies can be very beneficial for users who frequent many sites. It is very convenient to forgo having to remember every user name or password for every site you visit on a regular basis. Another convenience is using the shopping cart feature of a retail site. For instance, you have added items to your cart, and suddenly lose internet connection. Once internet connection is restored and you return to the site, your shopping cart items are still listed there. Websites also benefit from using cookies. Sites can store user preferences with the purpose of having a unique appearance for each user. Sites can also use cookies to track how many visitors a site receives. This particular piece of information is vital for sites who offer free access.
Lately, many consumers have been distressed over how websites are using tracking cookies. Tracking cookies could potentially amass a compilation of all your browsing habits. Marketing companies such as DoubleClick have taken tracking cookies a step further. “The cookie it dispatches will come alive every time you visit another site that does business with DoubleClick” (Peneberg, 2005). DoubleClick can then take that information it has gathered and pair it with personally identifiable information like a phone number or email, and most troubling
Cookie Trails
In today’s era of technology, many people are concerned about internet privacy. Most concerns are usually sparked by misinformation. One piece of technology that is most misunderstood is the cookie and its uses.
Many people believe that cookies are programs that can transfer viruses onto their computers. This is absolutely false. Cookies are typically harmless. Cookies are little text files left on your hard disk by some websites you visit (Williams & Stacy C. Sawyer, 2013, p.105). These text files store information about the user like preferences, log-in name, and password.
Cookies can be very beneficial for users who frequent many sites. It is very convenient to forgo having to remember every user name or password for every site you visit on a regular basis. Another convenience is using the shopping cart feature of a retail site. For instance, you have added items to your cart, and suddenly lose internet connection. Once internet connection is restored and you return to the site, your shopping cart items are still listed there. Websites also benefit from using cookies. Sites can store user preferences with the purpose of having a unique appearance for each user. Sites can also use cookies to track how many visitors a site receives. This particular piece of information is vital for sites who offer free access.
Lately, many consumers have been distressed over how websites are using tracking cookies. Tracking cookies could potentially amass a compilation of all your browsing habits. Marketing companies such as DoubleClick have taken tracking cookies a step further. “The cookie it dispatches will come alive every time you visit another site that does business with DoubleClick” (Peneberg, 2005). DoubleClick can then take that information it has gathered and pair it with personally identifiable information like a phone number or email, and most troubling
References: Peneberg, A. L. (2005, November 7). Cookie Monsters: The innocuous Text Files that Web Surfers love to hate. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from Slate: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2005/11/cookie_monsters.html Williams, B. K., & Stacy C. Sawyer. (2013). USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS & COMMUNICATIONS (10th ed.). Boston: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Text files are stored as name-value pairs. [ 2 ]. Tracking cookies are third-party cookies placed by a marketing or advertising company that is interested in tagging visitors. Often they make sure a user won 't be hit with the same ad twice.