Why Apple is deleting cookies and how it could affect you
December 06, 2017
Some time ago that cookies are in the mouth of many
Internet users. And surfing the net implies having to "accept" them
quite often.
These small text files
are sent by websites - usually advertisers - and stored in our browser to
remember information about us, from the IP address to the operating system we
use.
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What happens when you
accept cookies and why it is convenient to delete them from your browser from
time to time 4 things that maybe you
did not know about cookies
Several users have
complained - rightly so - that this system affects their privacy, because often
the only possible option to continue browsing is to accept them.
But the technological multinational Apple has created a crash
plan to deal with complaints with a solution that some companies find radical:
develop an anti-cookie system in your browser.
The latest update of
its operating system, iOS 11,
prevents many web pages from continuing to track Internet users through cookies,
greatly reducing their number.
TYPES OF COOKIES ACCORDING TO THEIR PURPOSE
Techniques: control traffic, identify sessions,
store contents.
Personalization: language, browser type, regional
settings.
Analysis: follow the behavior of users to measure site activity.
Advertising: allow the management of advertising
spaces that the editor included in the web.
Behavioral advertising: create a specific profile of the
user.
The objective,
according to the Cupertino Company,
is to protect the privacy of its users.
"Apple believes that users have the right to
privacy",
the technology firm said in a statement.
"Ad tracking
technology has become so pervasive that ad companies can recreate most of a
user's web history." This information is collected without permission and
is used for a refocusing of the ads, which is the mode with which that the ads
pursue users through the network. "
However, not everything
related to cookies is "bad" for Internet users.
For example, these
files make shopping easier, remembering data that you do not have to enter all
the time, or make personalized advertising possible, which in some cases may be
liked by consumers.
The "Like"
button on Facebook is another example.
The page where you can
see how Facebook analyzes you to send you personalized ads
The real problem is
when those cookies are used by third parties to track your movements on the
network. Some reports indicate that they can even access your private
conversations or the battery life of the device you use.
"Changing rules" and "sabotage"
Even so, several groups
of advertisers - among them, the American Association of Advertising Agencies
(4A's) and the US Advertising Federation. (AAF) - They complained and wrote a
letter to Apple showing their disagreement.
"The infrastructure
of the modern Internet depends on consistent and generally applicable standards
for cookies, so that digital companies can innovate to create personalized
content, services and advertising for users, and remember their visits,"
they said.
"The change in Apple's Safari breaks those rules and
replaces them with an amorphous set
of changing rules that will hurt the user experience and sabotage the
Internet's economic model."
The operating system
was launched on September 25 and uses a function that the company called
Intelligent Tracking Prevention, which allows to identify the presence of
cookies and avoid their activity, through algorithms.
Apple's new measure
will mean that cookies will have a maximum
life of 24 hours before being deleted automatically (usually, they usually
last up to 30 days).
The system will make it
much more difficult for brands to control the browsing habits of their
potential users, although it will not block ads.
But it is possible that
this change of rules of the game benefits Apple's competition, such as Google
and Facebook, causing the number of cookies-and other types of tracking that
harm the privacy of its users-to multiply on their platforms.
And in the case of
Facebook, the commitment to personalized advertising has just begun.
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