They Are Lying To You

If you use anti-virus or other anti-malware scanning software on your computer, it has been telling you lies. Each time the software alerts you to an “intrusion” related to cookies from website, it is deceiving you in an apparent effort to ensure you keep using the software.

Cookies, or more specifically tracking cookies written by web sites, are not inherently malicious and a fundamental web technology. First introduced in pre-release versions of Netscape in 1994, they are small text files stored on your computer, and are only visible to the web sites that created them. They are not viruses. They are not malware. They do not slow down your computer.

Without the use of cookie technology it would be impossible for your favorite web sites to remember you and your preferences each time you visit, without the use of a log-in process at each visit. The most common use of cookies by web sites is to assign you a unique random ID that correlates to your preferences which are stored in the site’s database, then place that non-personal ID in the cookie. This way, everything from Twitter to Amazon is significantly more user-friendly.

Cookies In Advertising

Third-party advertising networks use the cookie so that they see you as a repeat visitor on the sites for which they serve ads. If they serve ads on site-a.com, they use the non-personal identifier in your cookie as a means to retain which ads you’ve seen. Then, when you brows to site-b.com (on which they also serve ads), the ad network recognizes you, and continues to deliver a mixture of ads. Part of this process involves some level of retaining the sites visited so as to intelligently select ads that may be of interest to you.

The profiling, referred to as behavioral targeting, is one of the primary reasons privacy advocates are concerned. While there’s good reason to be concerned, no one has provided an actual case of where the profiling and targeting of online advertising has resulted in a problematic invasion of privacy, or inappropriate use of the profile data. Since the cookie contains no personal data, and the ad networks do not collect personal data, the targeting profile has no idea who you really are.

We Need A Logical Solution

Banner advertising on the Internet is far from perfect, and often irritating. But then, so are the little cards in magazines, billboards on the highways, and poorly produced TV commercials. While imperfect and irksome as it is, the advertising banners are currently the most common method by which content web sites can create revenue, and advertisers can reach select groups of online users.

No one will argue that we need strict controls regarding the collection and use of data which is the result of your web browsing. Ethical business practices tend to become widespread only after legislative action. However, Representative Boucher’s proposed legislation is akin to repairing a slightly rotted wallboard with liberal amounts of gasoline and a flame-thrower.