Keeping Your Cookies In the Jar
Managing on-line privacy is an important issue in regards to Social Media and web use in general. There is the desire for marketers to obtain useful information about their sites and Social Media campaigns balanced with individual's desire for privacy.
Flash cookies are large capacity data files stored on a computer after visiting websites or Flash applications. They are not deleted when users delete cookies on their browser. Recently Flash cookies have been the subject of class action lawsuits with plaintiffs arguing that the Flash cookies are an unfair invasion of privacy.
Recently a class action lawsuit was filed against web analytics firm Kissmetrics Inc and over twenty of their clients including Etsy, IVillage and Spokeo. The lawsuit alleges that the methods Kissmetrics used to track data violated state and Federal privacy laws.
The case alleges that:
Plaintiffs and Class Members reasonably expected their browser controls to block or delete cookies, preventing them from being tracked online, profiled, and served behaviorally targeted advertisements. Plaintiffs subsequently discovered that, despite their use of browser controls, Defendants had been tracking their online activities and had stored a number of files on their computers.
The plaintiffs believe that Kissmetrics went around accepted privacy controls to obtain information from individuals who thought their privacy was being respected.
I am not an attorney so I am not going to attempt to analyze the legality of what Kissmetrics did. But I do have thoughts from a Social Media Marketers perspective.
While I do understand a marketer's desire to obtain as much useful information as possible I do not think it is in their best interest to invade individual's privacy. The plaintiffs in the case were doing what they thought they should do to delete cookies.
Blocking cookies makes it more difficult to get a full picture of web analytics but perhaps this is something marketers should be able to consider when they are analyzing their data. Circumventing accepted privacy controls is only going to anger consumers which is not the way to gain credibility and trust.
On the consumer side this is a lesson on how quickly technology can change. It is important to not assume that a privacy method that worked yesterday will work today. This is true of Social Networking sites and web tracking. If privacy is important to you then keeping up with changes in the industry are best done on your own. Unfortunately not all companies and sites are clear in regards to their privacy polices (or they assume most consumers are not going to read the "small print").
Do you delete your cookies? Why or why not?