Online Privacy Concerns Associated with Cookies, Flash Cookies, and Web Beacons

Web-tracking and information-gathering technologies, including cookies, Flash cookies, and Web beacons, offer marketers the opportunity to collect a wealth of consumer information. The purpose of this article is to examine Web users’ privacy concerns associated with these tracking technologies. We first describe the capabilities of each of these tracking technologies. We then address whether the use of tracking technologies is an intrusion upon an expectation or right of privacy, within the United States and within the European Union. We conclude by offering directions for future research.

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