Comments on: A Note About Tracking Cookies

By: efredine

efredine — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:09:12 +0000

I agree that ignorance and complexity are important factors. My wife - reasonably sophisticated user - was astonished to learn that her actions might be tracked across different web sites. It had just never occurred to her this was possible. And now, I think she has no idea what she should do about it.

And about those young people. Thing is, they're still young.

Later to the party - but glad I found the post.

Thanks,
Eric

By: Eric Fredine

Eric Fredine — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:09:12 +0000

By: maxkalehoff

maxkalehoff — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:28:35 +0000

Ryan,
I agree with you. That's evidenced by how few comments I received both on
this blog, and on the MediaPost site, where this essay originally published.
I don't think most people or publisher audiences care -- probably the result
of ignorance, complexity and practicality. On the idea of practicality, if
everyone stopped to probe the issues, the world would come to a grinding
halt -- collectively, the perceived risk versus reward is out of sync,
regardless of what it actually is.

However, I asked the question to publishers, and there was a surprising
silence, or lack of public response -- even though several thousand read
this post, between this blog and the MediaPost Spin newsletter and Web site.
While most people may not care, a number of federal regulators have made a
big deal of it and action seems imminent. For whichever reasons, most
publishers simply are taking a don't-talk-about-it-openly approach. However,
I did receive several personal responses to this post, mainly from
progressive publishers who are taking a more active stance on
tracking-cookie and privacy policy.

Thanks for your feedback.

By: Ryan Nagy

Ryan Nagy — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:59:03 +0000

Max – I appreciate your candor and your honesty. Yet, I cannot help but ask myself if anyone is listening to your argument and if anyone cares.

Younger internet users and people such as myself who spend a great deal of time online don't seem to have much concern about “cookies” and privacy. And given cookies near ubiquity and invisibility (from a user standpoint) enacting standards and teaching users what to watch for seems a near impossibility.

Thanks for your post – Ryan

By: froggertv

froggertv — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:21:25 +0000

For the first time i have heard some thing called tracking cookies. A great informative post.