Online Behavioral Advertising: Cookies or Trojans?

The practice of Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA) involves placing a cookie onto your computer that invisibly collects information on your internet usage and customization. Why is this called a 'cookie' and not a 'trojan'? According to PC Magazing Encyclopedia, a Trojan is:

"A program that appears legitimate, but performs some illicit activity when it is run. It may be used to locate password information or make the system more vulnerable to future entry. A Trojan is similar to a virus, except that it does not replicate itself."

A cookie, however, is:

"Used for authentication, storing site preferences, shopping cart contents, the identifier for a server-based session, or anything else that can be accomplished through storing text data. They cannot replicate themselves and are not viruses"

It seems that the main difference between these two concepts is their degree of illicit activity. While trojans are usually malicious, cookies are simply 'investigative.' What can we do about this? How do we keep cookie's out of our computers entirely?

To put it simply, we can't.

Online information (web sites, videos, images) travel through the airwaves in streams of binary code. When they reach our computer, they enter through a variety of 'ports.' There are hundreds of ports built into the firmware of the computer and each is specialized to perform certain tasks at a certain rate. Often, malware will travel into your computer by exploiting ports that are not monitored actively by your computer. Cookies, however, enter through the normally open ports, disguised as elements of the website. While there are methods available to block some of them, there are numerous ways they can be incorporated within other site data in order to subvert software meant to prevent their entry.

Information is a two-way process, and websites will always have the ability to collect raw data on their visitors. The only question is, "how much is legal?" The FTC recently released a report citing how 'reasonable provision' would be made to protect consumer privacy but such general prose provides no direction or authority for regulatory bodies to step in. While there's no easy solution for the average internet user, the best advice I can give is to always stay informed.

Jared


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Competitive Education & Bulk Pricing

    While Just-In-Time inventory systems, such as Dell's web-based 'design your computer' service, provide the capability to design specific orders without risking excess inventory, there are only a fixed number of potential orders available and an accompanying distribution of consumer preference.  Using this data, Dell can attempt to forecast future demand and purchase the appropriate amount of raw material, usually in bulk.  Unfortunately, at this stage, the ability to minimize risks of excess inventory becomes far more difficult since forecasting works on probabilistic principles.


    We can use this example to define an ideal just-in-time inventory system that can take advantage of bulk pricing whilst minimizing inventory in stock after purchase.  It seems that to reduce holding costs entirely the organization would need to act as an intermediary with full knowledge of demand, thus providing the manufacturer with the specific details of the order and the destinations of its recipients.  Thus, the role of the organization becomes one of demand centralization, compiling a list of all willing recipients of the product and ensuring their participation in the purchase of the product.

           One particular organization, GroupOn, has done just this and can provide a number of local services and products at outrageous prices. 



     While this is an intriguing business model, I would like to see it extend into the realm of education.  Certification examinations for a variety of positions and fields are outrageously expensive, since costs are usually cross-subsidized in case there is little turnout.  One organization, certifying Nurses already does this.  I would like to see this practice extend to educational programs that operate below capacity.  This practice will bolster their attendance and hedge their operating risk, allowing them to remain competitive in the market. 
Educational institutions motivated to remain competitive provide a far more enriching experience to the student - just ask the Ivy League.

Supporting an Educationally Competitive Future,
Jared Leichner