It is not uncommon for us to see a window pops up after 20 seconds we have been on to a new site, saying something in the line of “cookies”, “permission”, “improved experience” with a check box or yes or no option beneath those texts. Have you ever read into those annoying pop-ups? Are they important anyway?
So, those windows represent the developer of the website’s interest in using your online footprints from your browser to track and “draw” a virtual image of yourself. They typically try to guess who you are by crawling your browse history, IP address, and other detailed information about you.
Why are asking for cookies any way?
The main reason for their effort in attempting to “guess” who you are is for online marketing reasons. In order to increase their rate of conversion and figure out its targeted audience, the website’s best approach is via this method. Have you ever seen banner ads that feature the items that were in your shopping cart? That is an example where online tacking is at work.
Is it ethical?
Generally, the optimized tactic is to request permission from your audiences, it could be very uncomfortable for online surfers to find out that they are being monitored. It is extremely important for the collector of this data to keep it secure and away from possible exportation from a third party, since this information is very sensitive and could be used for fraud and scams.