Cookies have become one of the primary means of identifying individuals on the Web (particularly for e-tailers) and as such have become the source of much concern for privacy advocates worldwide. This chapter examines the relationship between Internet software (specifically Web browsers and their accompanying cookies) and the privacy rights of online users (defined as the desire to maintain control over the dissemination of personal demo- graphic and psychographic information). The chapter discusses a research study that I made of Netscape’s Navigator and Communicator Web browsers—specifically, versions 1.12 (1995), 2.02, 3.0 (1996), 4.01, and 6.01 (2000)—and that asked where browsers locate preferences for cookies, cookie files, and information about cookies and which options they offered for controlling the use of cookies. As a whole, this study looked at user knowledge and control over cookie operations via the Web browser and the PC hard drive. Its questions attempt to ascertain the degree to which Netscape encodes knowledge and control preferences for Web browser cookies. Findings from a brief follow-up study also shed light on the implications of having users actually change the default settings[4] of their cookie operations (when available). In short, both studies suggest that Internet users who exert their privacy rights in cyberspace by disabling their browser’s cookie preferences also significantly disable the Web’s ability to offer them convenient services and relevant information (in particular, information offered by industry leaders such as Yahoo! and Excite).[4]Computer software programs, including Web browsers, come ‘‘prepackaged’’ or ‘‘bundled’’ on PCs with certain settings set at the factory.
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