Assignment n°5: Cookie location
When browsing on websites, we often get this message to click on "accept" for the usage of cookies on the website we are visiting.
What exactly are these cookies and what is their purpose?
This was the assignment's goal.
First what are exactly cookies?
According to the book "E-business 2014" (Laudon & Traver), chapter 3, page 162 (US Version) a cookie is "a tool used by Web sites to store information about a user. When a visitor enters a Web site, the site sends a small text file (the cookie) to the user's computer so that information from the site can be loaded more quickly on future visits. The cookie can contain any information desired by the site designers."
A cookie is thus a file containing information, a small piece of data, about the "visitor". It's stored while the visitor is browsing on the website.
It is a very usefull tool which has various applications. For example, thanks to the cookies, when I'm browsing a shopping website and adding products to my e-shopping cart, I can close the website and when I'll be browsing later on the website, my products will still be in my e-shopping cart, because my data has been stored. It's a sort of "reminder".
When I'll be browsing a website looking for trains or bus schedules, thanks to the cookies, my favorite stations or stops will already be there, stored, kind of "waiting for me".
The biggest disadvantage of cookies has nothing to do with viruses or hacks (a HTTP web cookie can't carry any viruses, it's only data), it has to do with our own privacy and some faireness.
As all my datas are stored, my web browsing experience on this website won't be private anymore, I'll be "known" to the system, to the website designer. the website designer can decide whatever he/she wants to do with my private browsing data (for example to sell them to marketers in order to know my browsing profile and to advertise me personalised ads. Another example is on the airline websites, such as Ryanair where with my URL and cookie stored, I won't have the same price rates as if I was browsing for the first time on this website).
Cookies have therefore their pros and cons. It's up to the user to decide whether or not he/she wants to keep them or delete them (which can be done very easily when going in the browser settings.). Another option might also be to browse with the "private browsing" where no data and cookies are stored (Ctrl+shift+n in Google Chrome and Opera. Ctrl+shift+p in Mozilla Firefox).
I'm currently mainly using the free browser "Opera" with the add-on "ABP" (ad-block plus, which blocks ads, pop ups and some cookies)
Here are the top 10 cookies I found:
1. Bongo.be: a website of gift vouchers from Belgium. I use it to check and compare the different sorts of vouchers available before going to the actual store to buy some to offer them for a romantic trip or for a convenient gift for a family member or a friend of mine. It appeared to be on my top 10 with the most cookies in my browser.
2. Google.com: the most important search-engine in the world. It's also a vast company of internet-related services and products. It's so important it even is a word in the English language. I use to search every piece of information I need, or to access to my gmail account.
3. Wix.com: it is a HTML5 and flash free website builder. I used it this semester to create a website for an other assignment in my class of e-marketing and I used it to build this portfolio. Its various functionalities and add-ons (social plug-ins, eCommerce, contact forms, email marketing, and many more widgets), but also the easiness of use and the HTML5 platform were some of the main reasons why we used this website builder instead of other ones.
4. Mobistar.be: a mobile phone (and internet) operator from Belgium. This is where I log in to check my fees for my monthly rental. I can also get several information on the special offers or checking my gifts from the loyalty program.
5. Economist.com: a newspaper website from London, UK. I regularly read some news on it.
6. 9GAG.com: a sharing platform of funny images and gifs from all over the world, shared by thousand of users, sorted in different categories. According to its slogan this is "the best source of fun" and "why so serious?".
7. Facebook.com: simply the biggest online social network there is. More than one thousand million of users. It's a great way to communicate and keep in contact with friends, relatives, or acquaintances who might, for some of them, be living far away from us.
8. Outlook.office.365.com: The platform of e-mail I use to log in on my Artevelde student account to check my mail but also the one I use to check my mails from my EPHEC student account (my home university college). I use it almost daily.
9. Cbc.be:A belgian bank company (KBC in the flemish part). The online account allows me to do my transfers very easily and to check on all my payment information.
10. Allocine.fr: a french website with reviews and ratings of movies. It's a great tool to find a movie to watch and to compare the people reviews.
I looked up for information on wikipedia.org (search word HTTP cookie) and in the book "E-business 2014".