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Case Study 9 381

to obtain your permission before installing third-party held accountable? Summarize consequences of these
cookies, how would you determine whether to grant it? facts on consumers.
List criteria that your team thinks you would actually 9-14. Summarize the benefits of third-party cookies to
use (as opposed to what the team thinks you should consumers.
do). Assess the effectiveness of such a policy.
9-15. Given all you have learned about third-party cookies,
9-13. The processing of third-party cookies is hidden; we what does your team think should be done about them?
don’t know what is being done behind the scenes Possible answers are: a) nothing; b) require Web sites
with the data about our own behavior. Because there to ask users before installing third-party cookies; c) re-
is so much of it and so many parties involved, the quire browsers to block third-party cookies; d) require
possibilities are difficult to comprehend, even if the browsers to block third-party cookies by default, but
descriptions were available. And if your privacy is enable them at the users’ option; e) something else.
compromised by the interaction of seven different Discuss these alternatives among your team and rec-
companies working independently, which is to be ommend one. Justify your recommendation.

CaSe Study 9

Hadoop the Cookie Cutter

A cookie is data that a Web site stores on your computer to that fact of that click to the log. This logging is repeated every
record something about its interaction with you. The cookie time DoubleClick shows an ad. Cookies have an expiration
might contain data such as the date you last visited, whether date, but that date is set by the cookie creator, and they can
you are currently signed in, or something else about your in- last many years. So, over time, DoubleClick and any other
teraction with that site. Cookies can also contain a key value third-party cookie owner will have a history of what they’ve
to one or more tables in a database that the server company shown, what ads have been clicked, and the intervals between
maintains about your past interactions. In that case, when you interactions.
access a site, the server uses the value of the cookie to look up But the opportunity is even greater. DoubleClick has agree-
your history. Such data could include your past purchases, ments not only with Amazon, but also with many others, such
portions of incomplete transactions, or the data and appear- as Facebook. If Facebook includes any DoubleClick content on
ance you want for your Web page. Most of the time cookies its site, DoubleClick will place another cookie on your com-
ease your interaction with Web sites. puter. This cookie is different from the one that it placed via
Cookie data includes the URL of the Web site of the cookie’s Amazon, but both cookies have your IP address and other data
owner. Thus, for example, when you go to Amazon, it asks your sufficient to associate the second cookie as originating from
browser to place a cookie on your computer that includes its the same source as the first. So, DoubleClick now has a record
name, www.amazon.com. Your browser will do so unless you of your ad response data on two sites. Over time, the cookie log
have turned cookies off. will contain data to show not only how you respond to ads, but
A third-party cookie is a cookie created by a site other also your pattern of visiting various Web sites on all those sites
than the one you visited. Such cookies are generated in several in which it places ads.
ways, but the most common occurs when a Web page includes You might be surprised to learn how many third-party
content from multiple sources. For example, Amazon designs cookies you have. The browser Firefox has an optional feature
its pages so that one or more sections contain ads provided by called Lightbeam that tracks and graphs all the cookies on your
the ad-servicing company, DoubleClick. When the browser computer. Figure 9-30 shows the cookies that were placed on
constructs your Amazon page, it contacts DoubleClick to ob- my computer as I visited various Web sites. As you can see, in
tain the content for such sections (in this case, ads). When it Figure 9-30a, when I started my computer and browser, there
responds with the content, DoubleClick instructs your browser were no cookies. The cookies on my computer after I visited
to store a DoubleClick cookie. That cookie is a third-party www.msn.com are shown in Figure 9-30b. At this point, there
cookie. In general, third-party cookies do not contain the are already eight third-party cookies tracking. After I visited
name or any value that identifies a particular user. Instead, five sites I had 27 third-party cookies, and after I visited seven
they include the IP address to which the content was delivered. sites I had 69, as shown in Figures 9-30c and d.
On its own servers, when it creates the cookie, DoubleClick Who are these companies that are gathering my browser
records that data in a log, and if you click on the ad, it will add behavior data? If you hold your mouse over one of the cookies,