Google was under fire Friday after it was revealed the Internet giant’s ad-targeting “cookies” bypassed track-blocking software on Apple’s web browser for iPhones and computers.<\/p>\n
Snippets of code called “cookies” from Google three online ad specialty firms slipped past tracker-blocking safeguards on Apple’s Safari browser, Stanford University graduate student Jonathan Mayer said Friday in a blog post.<\/p>\n
“Some privacy researchers and advocates have characterized the interplay between third-party web trackers and browser privacy measures as a ‘cat and mouse game’ or ‘arms race,'” Mayer said.<\/p>\n
“This research result regrettably affirms that view as reality for, quite possibly, millions of users.”<\/p>\n
Safari is the most widely used browser on mobile devices and the default browser on iPhones and Macintosh computers. The Apple browsers are pre-set to block tracking cookies.<\/p>\n
Google discontinued use of the offending cookies after Mayer’s findings went public, and defended itself against outrage over what it characterized as an unintended side-effect of an effort to safeguard online privacy.<\/p>\n
Google last year began using cookies in Safari browsers to let people signed into Google accounts get personalized services, such as being able “+1” ads or other online content as likeable for friends at its online social network.<\/p>\n
Specialized cookies were crafted to be set temporarily in Safari browsers to check whether a user was signed into a Google account and had opted for personalized services such as social ads from DoubleClick.<\/p>\n
The plan was purportedly to provide users personalization they requested while disclosing no information about them to Google-owned ad specialty firm DoubleClick.<\/p>\n
Google reportedly did not realize was the presence of the cookies opened Safari browser doors to a slew of DoubleClick ad tracking cookies, which would otherwise have been rejected.<\/p>\n
“The Safari browser contained functionality that then enabled other Google advertising cookies to be set on the browser,” the California company said in a released statement.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t anticipate that this would happen, and we have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers,” it continued.<\/p>\n
“It’s important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect personal information.”<\/p>\n
US legislators and privacy advocates lashed out at Google, accusing the company of trampling on people’s privacy and calling for an investigation.<\/p>\n
“Google has clearly engaged in ‘unfair and deceptive’ practices,” said Consumer Watchdog privacy project director John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director.<\/p>\n
“They have been lying about how people can protect their privacy in their instructions about how to opt out of receiving targeted advertising.”<\/p>\n
Consumer Watchdog fired off a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission calling for an investigtion.<\/p>\n
“We are taking immediate steps to address concerns and we are happy to answer any questions regulators and others may have,” a Google spokesman told AFP.<\/p>\n
Senator John Rockefeller, chairman of the Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation, issued a statement vowing to look into how extensively Google and other firms circumvented do-not-track mechanisms in Safari browsers.<\/p>\n
“Google knows the rules and simply chose not to follow them in this case,” said Association for Competitive Technology president Jonathan Zuck.<\/p>\n
“The ongoing irony is that these missteps, intentional or otherwise, invite regulatory action that doesn’t hurt Google, but makes it harder for small business competitors to survive.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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