From: Andreas Piras

From: Andreas Piras To: Theodore Franklin Claypoole Re: OBA definitions Date: Mar 11 2011

DEFINITIONS

 Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA) - Tracking of consumers` online activities in order to deliver tailored advertising (FTC Staff Report: February 2009 Self- Regulatory Principles For Online Behavioral Advertising, Pg 2).  Web Tracking - Tracking of one`s behavior on the web, whether at an anonymous or personal level.  OBA classification from FTC, Self Regulatory principles for OBA:

o First party advertising: tracking on own sites where data are not shared with third parties, o Contextual advertising: where an ad is based on a single visit to a web page or single search query, o Third party advertising: data are shared across different entities or participation in ad networks.

 Cookies - A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

 Session Cookie - cookie erased when the user closes the Web browser. The session cookie is stored in temporary memory and is not retained after the browser is closed. Session cookies typically store information in the form of a session identification that does not personally identify the user.

 Persistent/permanent Cookie - a cookie that is stored on a user's hard drive until it expires (persistent cookies are set with expiration dates) or until the user deletes the cookie. Persistent cookies are used to collect identifying information about the user, such as Web surfing behavior or user preferences for a specific Web site.

 Local Shared Objects (LSO), also known as flash cookies, are collections of cookie-like data stored as a file on a user's computer. Flash cookies are stored in a separate directory than other cookies. They are commonly used by Adobe Flash Player. LSOs may be used to track one`s online behavior, and cannot be usually deleted through the customary cookies delete functions of web browsers. LSOs may allow old HTML cookies to be reinstated after deletion, circumventing users` privacy settings. Flash Cookies have been object of several lawsuits in the US. For instance see http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e30a5811-2d15-48f5-a2e8- d35ee6768a53  Web Beacons- a graphic image used to monitor the behavior of users visiting a Web site or sending an e-mail. When the HTML code for the Web beacon points to a site to retrieve the image, at the same time it can pass along information such as the IP address of the computer that retrieved the image, the time the Web beacon was viewed and for how long, the type of browser that retrieved the image and previously set cookie values. Turning off the browser's cookies will prevent Web beacons from tracking the user's activity. The Web beacon will still account for an anonymous visit, but the user's unique information will not be recorded.

 Widgets - Interactive mini-programs that run on our site to provide specific services from another company (e.g. displaying the news, opinions, music, etc). Personal information, such as your email address, may be collected through the widget. Cookies may also be set by the widget to enable it to function properly.

 History Sniffing - records the consumer’s history of browsing websites other than the one of the company gathering such data.

 Respawning – the act of re-instating deleted HTML cookies (often via LSOs).

RESOURCES

 FTC: Self Regulatory principles for OBA http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/02/P085400behavadreport.pdf

 US - Industry Groups: o Self Regulatory Program for OBA http://www.aboutads.info./ o Network Advertising Initiative http://www.networkadvertising.org/

 UK - ICO: online privacy best practices http://www.ico.gov.uk/ebook/ebook.htm

 DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 2002/22/EC http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/09/st03/st03674.en09.pdf