Zombie Cookies Will Be Killed, Company Says
Tech company Turn said it would stop using tracking cookies that are impossible to delete. The decision came in response to a recent ProPublica article that revealed the controversial practice.
By Julia Angwin and Mike Tigas, ProPublica
Shutterstock
This piece originally ran on ProPublica.
Tech company Turn said it would stop using tracking cookies that are impossible to delete. The decision came in response to a ProPublica article this week that revealed the controversial practice.
“We have heard the concerns and are actively re-evaluating this method,” Max Ochoa, Turn’s chief privacy officer, wrote in a blog post.
He said the company plans aims to suspend the practice by “early February.”
Turn’s zombie cookie was exploiting a hidden undeletable number that Verizon uses to track its customers on their smartphones on tablets. Turn used the Verizon number to respawn tracking cookies that users had deleted. The company said it will now re-evaluate its practices.
Turn’s decision to suspend the practice was a sharp reversal from its previous stance. It had previously argued that “clearing cookies is not a reliable way for a user to express their desire not to receive tailored advertising.”
Critics across the Web vocally disagreed. Jason Kint, CEO of a trade association for digital content companies, wrote that “this kind of surreptitious behavior does nothing to build trust between consumers, advertisers and publishers.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights organization, said Turn’s action made it ” impossible for customers to meaningfully control their online privacy.”
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for their newsletter.
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
News
Trade group allies paid billions for ads and lobbying to keep fossil fuels flowing.
Its 30 newsrooms will continue to operate as it reorganizes in a tumultuous industry; the publicly traded company is expected to go private.
"They've decided to let political figures lie to you," the presidential hopeful says.
The company has made millions off former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's message. That money should go right back to the cause that message supports.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.