Thats The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Cookies are a major concern to a lot of web users, but a new EU law coming into place from 25 May will make their use more transparent for users
Originally designed to hold some basic information on users visiting a website, say to remember preferences, cookies have morphed into devices that can track users through the web, targeting advertising based on what content they’ve viewed.

Under the new European e-Privacy directive, businesses will have to be more open and transparent about how they use the technology and will have to get consent from users to deploy tracking cookies. Users will have to be given complete information about what’s being stored in cookies and told why they’ll see certain adverts.

While this appears good news on one front, the directive has opened up a whole can of worms about how cookies are deployed and used, not to mention how the internet is funded.

If you want to read the whole report it is here,

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/general/1...ent-for-cookies


Phil

This will be interesting although it will hardly affect me, I have my browser set to refuse all cookies and have to manually accept cookies from sites I choose to trade with if they won't work otherwise.
Some sites are quite capable of completing an entire transaction without cookies, which begs the question of why so many demand you accept them?

Volty

Surely the harmless one are down to market research, the others as we all know are malicious, but few do as they say just store helpful information. Its obvious that they are not needed because it takes no measurable extra time to log on to a site without them, except for those that need a password.

Phil

Phil, I don't think cookies can be malicious, just nosey. The problem with the market research information is that the sites where you are personally identifiable can sneakily discover other things about you which you have not consented to letting them know, such as which other sites you have visited. If you went into M&S and they asked which other shops you had been to recently you might tell them to mind their own business but at least you would know they were asking. You certainly wouldn't want them to know you had been to Asian Chicks.com.

Posted by Voltman

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Phil, I don't think cookies can be malicious, just nosey. The problem with the market research information is that the sites where you are personally identifiable can sneakily discover other things about you which you have not consented to letting them know, such as which other sites you have visited. If you went into M&S and they asked which other shops you had been to recently you might tell them to mind their own business but at least you would know they were asking. You certainly wouldn't want them to know you had been to Asian Chicks.com.

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Phil's been where ?

Thanks SB, now I will have to edit the quote as well when the ads come rolling in.

Who's been looking at my cookies?

Phil

Never mind that mate
WHO'S BEEN EATING MY COOKIES ?