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Web Bugs On The Web
Web bugs are an acknowledged tool used by an advertising services company that fetches data from multiple Web sites without the users' knowledge and sends the information to its databases for analysis and storage. Web Bugs are in Web pages, email messages, and dealt with security or privacy on the Web.
First of all, According to Richard Smith, Web Bug are concise as "being used in graphics on a Web page or in an Email message that is designed to monitor who is reading Web pages or Email messages online" (Smith). Next, the author says Web Bugs are repeatedly invisible because they are typically only 1-by-1 pixels in size and are represented as HTML IMG tags. For example, two Web Bugs have been recently found on Quickenís home page. Similarly, the author names other Web Bugs that are known by the Internet advertising community referring to a term called "clear GIF". Web Bugs are also known as "1-by-1 GIF" and "invisible Gifs". (Smiths)
Similarly, Web Bugs appear in Email Messages that can be used to find out if someone has read a particular Email message or when the message was read. Richard M. Smith, a computer security specialist, who named the Web bugs, describes "Web Bugs that function like unknown microphones" (Smith). The author explains that the same kind of codes described in Web bugs are used in different types of Web-related e-mail that sends information to thousands of people. For example, if a note was opened and emailed back to a marketer that knows the effectiveness of the Web Bug.
Likewise, Web Bugs are used in organizations that gives ideas how often a message is being forwarded and read to detect if someone is viewing a junk E-mail message or not. For example, people who do not view a message are removed from the list for future mailings. To coordinate a Web browser cookie to a particular Email address is a Web Bug that allows a Web site to know the identity of people and who visits the site at a later date such as there's an ad on the page that's a suggestion to a page that has an association with some others site. For example, you might expect that there is someone watching, "Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters Corp." that has click on a Web Page that has Web Bugs. Therefore, Web Bugs have no purpose but to surveillance people online As a result, Web Bugs are a question of whether an issue of privacy to user online or to protect the Web. Until recently, almost no one but computer specialists has every heard about Web bugs, therefore they are often known as "clear GIFs.î (Harrow) As a result, several companies are preparing to begin identifying computer users by name and exploding interest in target marketing on the Internet.
In addition to Web Bug that are in e-mail, Web bugs have suddenly drawn the attention of advertisers, government officials, and privacy issues. Therefore, with the help of a cookie, the Web bug typically identifies a machine, the page it opened, and the time it arrived. As a result, the information is sent to a company that has an advertising service such as Double Click. To illustrate, Double Click, is Web Bug that determines if someone subsequently visits another company page in the same ad network to buy something or read other material. David Rosenblatt, senior vice president for global technology at Double-Click acknowledges and suggests, "It's a way of collecting consumer activity at their online store.î But for consumerís watchdogs, Web bugs and other tracking tools represent a growing, complicated threat to the privacy and self-government of online computer users. For example, much of the information collected by ad servers personally identifies the user and can be a violation of user privacy. DoubleClick, the industry leader, has begun creating an "information alliance" of businesses that will share customer information in a vast digital pool. However, once a computer user shares a name online with any alliance member, DoubleClick will be able to associate that name with cookies at all other participating members' sites. On the otherhand, DoubleClick and eight other leading advertising servers pledged are allowing consumers to opt out of such practices.
For several years, online marketers have gathered information through the use of "cookies", that is, a simple sort of computer code that serves as a unique identifier for each computer user at a Harrowís Web site. In fact, banner advertisements on Web sites routinely use cookies to record the number of people who view an ad or click on the ad itself. But a computer privacy specialist can gather information without sophisticated computer userís knowledge, since they set cookies and gather information even on pages displaying no ad names Web bugs. I agree with that people that Web Bugs violate user rights and privacy. Therefore, if the online user violates the Internet, then there should be Web Bugs and cookies to prevent online crime.
After a meeting at the Federal Trade Commission, The Officials argued about what was said and the details about Web bugs that will impact on consumer privacy. According to David Medine, the FTC's associate director for financial practices, consumers are familiar with cookies and may never know that the information they agree to give a Web Site. Therefore, information about their user activities may not be trusted to Web site that could be shared with a server. As a result, few sites disclose they are deploying a Web bug even if a user has set his Web browser to alert him if a site is trying to place a cookie. Computer users can configure their browsers to block the setting of a cookie. But if a user allows just one site in an advertising network to set a cookie, it enables all of the Web bugs in that network to perform.
Last of all, Web Bugs are found in Web page they may be view by looking at the "IMG tags" in the HTML source code (Smith). For example, Web Bugs will typically have its height and width parameters in the "IMG tag set to 1" (Smith). Also, for the IMG tag to be a Web bug, the image must be loaded from a different server than the rest of the Web page.
In conclusion, Web Bugs are being used in e-mail and in Web Pages. But, the most important thing about Web Bugs is they can spy on how many visitors visit a Web site. For example, Web Bugs, and cookies have are their own characteristics in Web Pages such as hidden Tag and other bugs. Also, should the government be involved in security to prevent Web Bug or cookies being used online on advertisement? Finally, should Web Bugs be used online as a security or do Web Bugs violate user privacy?
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© 1999 by Kevin Kokoszka