ABSTRACT
A cookie is a crumb of software stored in the computer of a visitor to a web site (to see what a typical “cookie” looks like, see Berg, 1996). The web site provides the cookie, and the visitor’s web browser installs the cookie on the visitor’s hard drive. The cookie permits the web-site operator to track the movements of the visitor on the operator’s web site (Schwartz, 1996; Woody, 1996). Another analogy is that the cookie “brands” the user’s computer with profile information (Angwin, 1997; Bell et al., 1997; Berg, 1996; Shaw, 1997;). Netscape and Microsoft browsers allow cookies (“Interactive technologies,” 1997). America Online does not (Hide your cookies,” 1997; Kilshimer, 1997). Netscape and Microsoft, however, do limit the number of cookies on a hard drive, kicking the oldest out first or kicking them out by the expiration dates they contain (Glass, 1996).
