HTTP Cookies: Standards, privacy, and politics
DM Kristol - ACM Transactions on Internet Technology (TOIT), 2001 - dl.acm.org
DM Kristol
ACM Transactions on Internet Technology (TOIT), 2001•dl.acm.orgHow did we get from a world where cookies were something you ate and where"
nontechies" were unaware of" Netscape cookies" to a world where cookies are a hot-button
privacy issue for many computer users? This article describes how HTTP" cookies" work and
how Netscape's original specification evolved into an IETF Proposed Standard. I also offer a
personal perspective on how what began as a straightforward technical specification turned
into a political flashpoint when it tried to address nontechnical issues such as privacy.
nontechies" were unaware of" Netscape cookies" to a world where cookies are a hot-button
privacy issue for many computer users? This article describes how HTTP" cookies" work and
how Netscape's original specification evolved into an IETF Proposed Standard. I also offer a
personal perspective on how what began as a straightforward technical specification turned
into a political flashpoint when it tried to address nontechnical issues such as privacy.
How did we get from a world where cookies were something you ate and where "nontechies" were unaware of "Netscape cookies" to a world where cookies are a hot-button privacy issue for many computer users? This article describes how HTTP "cookies" work and how Netscape's original specification evolved into an IETF Proposed Standard. I also offer a personal perspective on how what began as a straightforward technical specification turned into a political flashpoint when it tried to address nontechnical issues such as privacy.
ACM Digital Library