Cookie and Privacy
Cookie facts:
- cookie is small plain text stored on your computer
- cookie is not a computer program, it is not a virus or spyware
- cookie set by the website you are viewing is first party cookie
- cookie set by the website which contains images or components on the page your are viewing is third party cookie
- cookie can be deleted or disable in anytime by the user
Since cookies can be used to tracking users’ activities on internet, they have been of great concern for users’ privacy. Misconceptions about cookie have flooded over the internet, many users consider it as virus or spyware and are very scare about it, but study indicated that large numbers of users do not know how to delete cookie.
The purpose of cookie is to differentiate users and improve the effectiveness and usability of website. Providing our personal information to make the website serve us better and protecting our privacy has become a contradiction.
Are you willing to give up your “privacy” in order to have easier-to-use website?
Yes!
There are two types of personal information can be collected by cookie on the internet, anonymous information and identification information.
I would like to share anonymous information such as my screen resolution, my browser, my location, so the website can customize my page with best resolution, no crashed layout and local news and weather forecast. It is a good user experiences.
For identification information, I only use these information on trusted website with SSL encrypted and purge the cookie before and after I land/leave the site. It can greatly reduce the chance of my identification information exposing to malicious websites.
Are you willing to give up your “privacy” so that the Ads you see on websites are likely to be more relevant to you?
Yes!
I would like to see the relevant Ads when I doing search on the internet. When I searched where I could buy dicus, the website used my ip address to show Ads about local aquarium store, it definitely attracted my eyes. My privacy can help me to find more useful information.
But when I was reading my daily news, checking email, I only focused on the major content, the Ads is blind to me.
Reference:
wikipedia: HTTP cookie
Study: Users Don’t Understand, Can’t Delete Cookies
[tags]cookie,privacy[/tags]
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