Cookies

toc =**What is a Cookie?**=

A cookie is a computer file that a company can download onto a users (websurfer) computer who visits the company's website. It works in a two stage process were the first stage implies for the cookie to be stored by the web server in the user’s computer in a specific file called the cookie list. The web server then can gain access to the cookies whenever the user connects to the server. Cookies are stored on the user’s computer by simply connecting to the server without having to store it themselves. The only way a cookie is not stored on a user’s computer, is when the user has a firewall that blocks the cookie from being stored. However, cookies are not like programs, meaning they cannot collect any personal information about the user from the machine, unless the user has given that web server personal information consciously. A cookie is usually stored in text form that is only 255 characters in length and takes up about 4096 bytes of disk space.

=**Why websites use Cookies**=

The innovation of cookies solved major problems for the people who implement websites. It has done this by allowing a website to store state information on a user’s machine. State information is an ID that is used by the user that allows the site to know that he or she has visited before. This information collected by the cookie allows the website to remember what state the machine was in. The state is, your browser has visited the site before allowing the site to recognize your ID from the first visit.

Cookies evolved because they solved a big problem for the people who implemented websites. In the broadest sense, a cookie allows a site to store state information on your machine. This information lets a website remember what state your browser is in. An ID is one simple piece of state information -- if an ID exists on your machine, the site knows that you have visited before. The state is, "Your browser has visited the site at least one time," and the site knows your ID from that visit.

Cookies allow websites to accurately determine how many people actually visit their site, how many are new visitors versus repeat visitors, and how often a visitor visits. Cookies are the only process that websites use that can accurately count these data. The website then stores this information in their database. The first time a visitor arrives that sites creates the new ID and inputs it into their database and then sends that ID as a cookie to the user’s machine. Now, the site can increment a counter linking the user’s ID to a counter that records how many times that visitor returns. One way a website entices a user to input information into their database is by offering customized sites. For example, a user can customize a website according to their preferences by entering information such as a postal code or age and sex of the user, which is then inputted into the websites database, thus placing a cookie on the user’s machine. One example of a website that commonly most likely would use cookies are e-commerce sites. They can implement options such as shopping carts or fast checkout. The cookie is used on these websites to keep track of what the user adds to their cart, storing each item with your ID into their database. When the user checks out, the cookie is what is responsible for knowing what is in the user’s cart from retrieving all the selections from their database. Without cookies, these convenient shopping methods would otherwise exist.

Although cookies may sound like an invasion of the user’s privacy, what is stored in the database are things the user has selected from the site, pages that have been viewed, and information that has been given consciously by the user. What is stored in the user’s machine is only it’s unique ID.

=**When cookies do not work**=

Along with the advantages of using website cookies there are disadvantages. One disadvantage is that cookies can be erased from the user’s machine. Commonly when a user is having difficulty with their web browser and call tech support, the first thing they will tell the user to do is erase all of the temporary internet files on their machine, thus losing all the cookies that have been stored. This creates miscalculations by a websites database that a user previously visited because the database will give the visitor a new ID to store as a cookie, which would calculate the visitor as new, and not returning one. This deleting process also makes it difficult for the user to recover previously stored preferences. However, websites have resorted to user registrations when visiting the site. Essentially, when you register with a user name and password, whether you erase your cookies or not, you can still login and restore your preferences. This also distinguishes the user as new or returning, because the website has a specific ID, being the user name and password, stored into their database.

Another disadvantage of using website cookies is when multiple machines are being used or shared. Many people have more then one machine, therefore a cookie ID will be stored onto it and stored in the websites database as different visitors, again providing a miscalculation of the number of new and returned visitors. One solution to this problem is also website registration that provides each visitor with a unique ID that can be accessed from any computer allowing the website to know the user is a returning visitor. Miscalculations occur when people share machines, such as at work or in a public area like a library. One major draw back of this is when for example; a user visits an e-commerce site and stores items in the shopping cart. The website will then store a cookie onto that machine and when another user goes to that same site, they can add more items into the shopping cart under the first user’s account. Here we can see the problem.

There are no easy solutions to these problems. Currently, like mentioned above, the only solution that is being implemented is when websites require a user to register to access that site, which gives each visitor a unique ID regardless if cookies are deleted or if one user has multiple machines.

=**Privacy concerns around the usage of cookies**=

There are issues regarding websites using cookies to store information about user’s activities to their site. Many companies, who have collected user’s information, sell it to other companies who are interested in market segmentation, which is made a lot easier by the information gathered by website cookies. The websites not only track a user’s purchases, but also all the information that has been given consciously to the website like name, address, telephone numbers, and employment. To calm these fears or information selling, e-commerce sites have provided strict privacy policies for the user to feel comfortable shopping at their sites. Included in these policies are not to share nor sell personal information about their users with any third party.

=Will There be a Future for Cookies?= =****=

Although privacy issues have been raised in regards to cookie usage, no legislations have been developed or implemented. For now, anti-cookie options are available to prevent websites storing cookies on a user’s machine or provide the user with the option to allow or not allow a cookie to be stored when detected. Therefore, there is no clear answer to whether or not cookies will be permitted to use by websites in the future, if so that will cause a drastic change in the way information is stored most importantly for e-commerce sites if no other legal innovation is developed in its place.

=**Works Citied**=

Brain Marshall, “How Internet Cookies Work”. 2005, accessed 2006, February 14, number of pages 6, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cookie.htm

Mosing Max W. “Cookies and Log Files”. 2003, accessed 2006, February 14, number of pages35, [|http://scholar.google.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:liUKBipf2-MJ] [|:www.it-law.at/papers/mosing_log-files_cookies_english.pdf+definition+of+internet+cookies]

Perkins Simon. “Internet Cookies: Security Implications”. 2000, accessed 2006, February 14, number of pages 13, [|http://scholar.google.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache] [|:M63SstJxXIIJ:www.cs.uct.ac.za/courses/CS400W/NIS04/papers00/sperkins/cookies.ps+internet+cookies]

Wikipedia. “Interent Cookies”. 2006, accessed 2006, February 14, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

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