CHAPTER 8: COMPARISONS – PRIVATE SECTOR ACTIVITY
The author adds that while at present “many of our surveillance systems are still
visible to us” more of those systems are likely to become hidden in the future.
8.76.
Sensing the force of such points, modern dystopian literature (in contrast to Nineteen
Eighty-Four) tends to focus at least as much on the evils of the (private sector)
“surveillance society” as on those of the (more extensively regulated) “surveillance
state”.20
Tracking methods
8.77.
As is clear from the above, a significant tool in a private company’s armoury is the
tracking of communications online. Digital advertising provides a significant method
of tracking, as well as presenting a quantifiable return on investment. It takes place
via an increasing number of methods.
Cookies
8.78.
8.79.
Cookies are small text files placed on a computer’s hard drive when a browser visits
a website. They work in conjunction with pixel tags to notify a website that a visit has
previously taken place. They include:
(a)
First party cookies, sent by the website a browser is visiting.
(b)
Third party cookies, sent by a website other than the website the browser is
visiting. For example, an advertisement appearing on the website can send a
third party cookie, thus allowing the network managing the third party cookie to
track information about a user’s browsing habits and engage in targeted
advertising.
(c)
Zombie cookies or super cookies, which reappear after they have been
deleted by a user.
(d)
Cookie-syncing, which is the practice of third party websites linking IDs
allocated to a user. This can improve tracking, particularly when used in
conjunction with zombie cookies.21
The rapid growth in ownership of mobile devices has meant that companies have had
to find alternative methods to carry out tracking: cookies are not shared between apps
and so have limited value on mobile devices. A number of methods have been
adopted to overcome this problem:
(a) Single Sign On permits a user to enter one name and password in order to gain
access to multiple applications. For example, a Facebook ID can be used to log
20
21
See e.g. Dave Eggers’ 2014 novel The Circle and cf. James Graham’s play Privacy, which sold out the
Donmar Warehouse in London in 2014.
G. Acar et al, “The Web Never Forgets: Persistent Tracking Mechanisms in the Wild”, (2014)
Proceedings in the CCS, p. 681.
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