Browsers and Third-Party Cookies

655 Words2 Pages

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].

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