Tracking 101, And Why Computer Privacy Protection Can Be Illegal

Common security housekeeping practices, like “clearing cookies,” can be a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, because while the intent may be to thwart tracking, they may also allow users to circumvent access limits, like those limiting the number of articles that can be read for free in some newspapers. Tracking, meanwhile, becomes part of the business plan in a wider and wider range of industries. How common is it? According to one recent count, visitors to some popular sites encounter more than 300 third party trackers, many of them from companies that do not honor privacy preferences and/or have become adept at circumventing blocking tools.