Google Found To Be Tracking Users On Safari Browser
Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer caught Google in its tracks, monitoring Apple Safari users according to a Wall Street Journal report released this morning.
WSJ claims that Google and several other advertising companies went around Apple Safari browser privacy settings in an attempt to track Apple Safari users on iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Mac - anywhere the Apple Safari browser ran.
By default, Apple Safari is set to only let a cookie stored on a website to be read from that website. A cookie is a small text file stored on the users disk. Cookies are typically used to store state information such as user preferences so that when the user visits the next time, settings can be remembered and re-established.
The unethical practice of sharing information through a cookie as a user bounces from website to website is called cross domain cookie sharing. As one can imagine, the gathering of personal information with the intent to be shared with another website is a privacy concern.
WSJ said that Google has since disabled the code after being contacted.
According to WSJ, the code tricked Safari into thinking that a user was submitting a form to Google, which then in turn let Google place cookies in the browser to monitor users as they explored the web.
From my view, we can take that a step further. Suppose the user was a Google+ user. All the cookie information that was built up could now be read by Google+ transferred and stored. Its like you leaving the house and coming back home with toilet paper wrapped around your ankle. Google knows where you been and they now know your first and last name.
Google in recent weeks has informed its users that changes in its privacy terms were going be implemented. The issue involves the combination of all your user information across Google products and services.
Article 29, a European Union group wants Google to put a hold on its scheduled March 1st, 2012 rollout asking CNIL, a data protection watchdog organization to investigate.
U.S. regulators also are talking with Google to learn more about its privacy change. A letter to Google CEO Larry Page from various Congress members demanded answers on how consolidation would affect users privacy rights.
About Kerry Kobashi
Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.
