Many people will argue that tracking cookies are sufficiently anonymous to pose no serious threat to Web users' security. (Considering the ads accompanying this post, such a suggestion would be the height of hypocrisy.) But there's no law-yet-requiring that individuals help online advertisers maximize their profits at the expense of users' privacy. The success of their ads finances the "free" services on the Web.įar be it from me to suggest Web sites shouldn't be allowed to make money. The companies claim they don't collect personally identifiable information-or at least most of them state so. Most Web users realize that the ads they see on sites are targeted specifically to them based on the knowledge the sites and their advertising partners have collected about them. Nearly all major Web services-including Facebook and Gmail-require them.) (First-party cookies have become a necessity. Still, the impending deadline makes me wonder what purpose third-party cookies serve for Web site visitors. This uncertainty hasn't prevented some pundits from predicting the end of the world for the European advertising industry, as reported by TechCrunch Europe's Mike Butcher.
It's unclear whether the opt-in requirement will be satisfied by the browser's setting that allows first- and third-party cookies. The so-called Cookie Directive will require that users explicitly allow Web sites to leave cookies and other data on their machines, according to Raul Mendez on. European advertisers fear they will face a huge new obstacle this May when the European Union's Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive takes effect.
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