Over the years internet privacy has been major concern worldwide. Even with such advanced technology we still can’t perfect the intrusion technology. But first before we try to ban cookies we should realize what we tend to loose. All cookies are not intrusive but a navigation tool as well. Internet cookies are extremely valuable to consumers and website operators alike, despite concerns that they threaten web users’ personal privacy. Without cookies, the Internet would be slower, the electronic marketplace, a difficult place to navigate and the entire online experience frustrating.
The Internet Alliance urges lawmakers not to regulate cookies but to work with industry to address the underlying issues: privacy and security. Together we must alert consumers on how to use technology and common sense to protect their own personal privacy online. First, it is important to understand what cookies are and how they benefit the web browser. A cookie is a small piece of information that is sent to your browser when you access a particular site. When a cookie arrives, your browser saves this information to your hard drive; when you return to that site, some of the stored information is sent back to the web server. But a cookie is not an executable program; it cannot scan your hard drive or be used to find out information you have not given the web site.
Without cookies, a consumer in an online bookstore, for example, could not put items in a shopping basket. Each item would have to be selected and purchased separately. The common practice of refining queries through a search engine would not be possible because without a cookie, there would be no record of the previous query. Cookies also allow web servers to collect and add specific data about a consumer and their browsing habits. Some use that data to send marketing information to consumers. It is this practice that raises privacy concerns.
The Internet Alliance believes that consumers should be able to set the level of privacy they want when surfing the Web. If they want to be anonymous, they should have that right. Only technology can make that possible. Only an educated consumer, armed with technology can establish real online privacy protection.
So what should consumers do? First, Web servers can and do track who visits their site. They collect information. So browsing habits determine the cookie you receive, who has access to your information and what advertising you get. The easiest thing a consumer can do is to modify their behavior. If you do not visit a fishing site it is unlikely you will receive fishing advertising, for example.
But the great appeal of the Internet is the ability to surf freely. It is possible to do it privately, even anonymously. There are several tools available today to help consumers. Internet Explorer and Netscape allow you to accept all, reject all or be warned before accepting cookies. In Explorer this is available on the Tools/Internet/Options menu and in Netscape at the Edit/Preferences/Advanced menu. Sometimes a site warns you that it may not function properly without cookies.
This means, as stated in the example above, that an electronic shopping cart would not work. It does not mean you cannot access the site, and the newer browsers have less difficulty browsing without cookies than older ones. To let consumers shop, bank or interact with web sites without having to have cookies permanently stored on their computer, some sites are utilizing session cookies. Session cookies are placed on a computer when the consumer visits a Web site and are deleted when the session ends or when you close your browser. If you want to be anonymous online, the tools now exist to make you invisible. Consumers can install software that makes it impossible to see where you surf.
Software can block cookies, Java, JavaScript, and other tracking methods. It will encrypt cookies allowing you to safely access and use the few Web sites that require cookies. It will even encrypt your page requests so your Internet Service Provider cannot log them. Finally, the Internet is still in its early stages barely 25 yr old. Remember high speed is not even 10 yrs old yet. The commonplace technology we use to surf the Web today did ” nt barely exist 7 years ago.
And the technology we will use five years from now does not exist commercially today. We should not regulate this technology. If cookies are banned another technology will take its place. Cookies are simply a programming convenience. We should not enact useless solutions to evolving problems when so many technological solutions are available, that can stretch and adapt as the Internet and the issues it raises change.