Who's Tracking Your Web Movements?

Dec. 4, 2007 — -- There is a fundamental disconnect between Internet consumers and their online privacy. Every survey suggests that consumers are worried about their online privacy. But when it comes to understanding how to protect their personal information, the gap looms large.

A recent report from the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Samuelson Clinic at the University of California-Berkeley Boalt School of Law offers this troubling assessment: "When consumers see the term 'privacy policy,' they assume the Web site cannot engage in many practices that, in reality, are common in e-commerce."

For example, most online consumers believe that the mere presence of the phrase "privacy policy" means that the Web site will not share any of their personal information with other Web sites or companies, according to the report.

Yet in practice, the phrase means nothing of the sort and instead provides consumers with the details on just how their information is stored, what information is being collected, and with whom that information can be shared (although there is also much debate about whether consumers who do read privacy policies can even understand their legalese).

A significant minority falsely believes that privacy policies bar a Web site from developing a profile of a person's online activities, a practice increasingly embraced by online marketers.

Consumers need to realize that with every click of the mouse they are leaving electronic footprints that can be tracked, collected, stored, collated, aggregated and massaged to create a stunningly accurate personal profile of their online activities, preferences and behaviors. There is a name for this practice: behavioral tracking.

Behavioral tracking is most often accomplished through the use of cookies, tiny data files that live on consumers' computers, placed there by Web sites and advertisers on those sites.

Cookies are nothing new, and they often serve to make the online experience easier, for example by remembering passwords, personalizing news preferences or remembering the items left in a site's online shopping cart from a previous visit.

All Internet browsers have tools that allow consumers to corral their cookies in numerous ways, including blocking all third-party cookies that permit advertising networks to track consumer behavior across sites. Having to fiddle with Web browser settings and preferences can be intimidating, and separating helpful cookies from tracking cookies can be a formidable task.