Re: [projectvrm] DNT question

[Aurelie Pols < >]

I'm happy to read Mozilla is thinking in the same lines and I agree, we should have more information about which cookies do what and have the choice to accept some of them but not others.

we've started the process of describing the cookies used within our privacy policies: http://www.mindyourprivacy.com/aviso-sobre-las-cookies/ (in Spanish) and also added a tool to accept or not the setting of cookies (left bottom corner). However we haven't gone as far as finding a tool that can choose between the different cookies being set.

currently we're debating to take the tool off as it's an opt-in tool: if people don't accept, our Google Analytics stats don't record anything. Needless to say that people don't bother clicking so basically we're flying blind. So for now, as there is no real penalty in Spain (nor anywhere really in Europe except for some German officials contacting some of our clients to fill in some paperwork), we might have gone a bit too far.

The Dutch legislation for example asks for out-in and one of the major Internet websites in the Netherlands reports that only 3 out of the 143 analyzed top websites does follow that law (http://www.marketingfacts.nl/berichten/onderzoek-ictrecht-cookiewetgeving-slecht-nageleefd). The question is whether this should be straightend-out once fines might come.

On the other hand, as a European regulation should be coming around the corner next year to set all this straight, all this fuss about cookies is somewhat overblown.

In the light of VRM however I do think the surfer should be given the choice to accept some cookies but not others.

Please note that depending upon how you set your analytics package, some are third party cookies so the 1st vs. 3rd party rule doesn't always stand. 

Personally I would just like to get rid of ad tracking cookies, following me around all day as it's really annoying and no sane person can convince me that being exposed to same brand over and over again will push me purchase. At some point brand exposure turns into a negative feeling, I wish ad networks would get that!

Hope it helps, kind regards from Madrid,

Aurelie

On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 6:55 PM, Paul Trevithick < " target="_blank"> > wrote:

On Aug 8, 2012, at 11:30 AM, Jim Bursch wrote:

> I haven't been paying close attention to the DNT discussion, so this may be a dumb question. It's also more of a technical question.
>
> Isn't tracking a function of cookies?

Cookies is one way tracking is done, and by far the most prevalent.

> So, killing cookies will kill tracking. Am I wrong?

That will kill basic cookie-based tracking, yes.

>
> If I routinely and frequently delete cookies, I am performing my own DNT -- is that correct?

Yes. But you're hurting yourself more than you need to if you delete all cookies. There are different kinds of cookies. First-party cookies (i.e. cookies issued by the site you have a session with --the site serving up the main page that you're looking at) help you stay logged in, and are very convenient and only "track" you on the site that you're on. So killing session cookies only makes your life less convenient while not stopping tracking. So its the third party cookies you want to delete.

>
> I have started doing that, but it is inconvenient mainly because of the poor choices for cookie management, which is a browser problem.

See above. It doesn't have to be as inconvenient.

>
> Again, if I am correct that tracking is a cookie management problem, here is what I would want in a cookie management system:
>
> 1. Clear, standard descriptions of the purpose of a given cookie. I want to know if it is a tracking cookie, or an authentication cookie, or a data storage cookie, etc. Right now I can only guess at the purpose of a cookie, given its content.
>
> 2. I want to be able to flag cookies that I would like to keep (e.g. authentication so I don't have to repeat login), and flag cookies that I don't want (e.g. tracking cookies).
>
> 3. I want to be able to create different rules for how different cookies are handled, based on their function/purpose -- e.g. keep cookies I like, delete cookies I don't want automatically.
>
> It seems to me that the cookie management system would be a simple browser plugin in the short term. The problem would be establishing a protocol for cookie meta data (type, function, purpose, etc.)
>
> Am I over-simplifying?

Yes, but you're headed in a good direction. The team at Mozilla Labs and others are thinking along similar lines.

>
>
> Jim Bursch
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Aurélie Pols

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