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FW: Re: - cookies and privacy

-----FW: <9607171748.AA02424@sun.cse.bris.ac.uk>-----

Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 18:48:42 +0100 (BST)
Sender: owner-www-security@ns2.Rutgers.EDU
From: Steff Watkins <Steff.Watkins@Bristol.ac.uk>
To: www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
Subject: Re: - cookies and privacy

John Pettitt wrote:

=>We do exactly the same thing with our ads on the cwsapps list.  Except
=>that we are just trying to figure out your OS so we can send you an ad
=>for a product you may want to buy (mac people *hate* being sold windows
=>products, win 95 people don't want win 3.1 products etc).

Hi John,

  nice idea but......

You're now trying to 'figure out' the 'type' of users you get. Now, lets
take an example.. let say ME.. for instance!!!

What would you say 'MY target OS' is???.. hmmm??? Let's see... This email
was sent from the Elm mailer on a system which runs SunOs.. so I'm a SunOs
guy right???

Errrm... but the system I'm connecting to the SunOs box with is a Linux'ed
PC.. so, does that mean I'd rather be interested in Linux?? Well not
really cos my Linux PC is schizo.. it runs MSDog as well.. So, maybe I'd
rather be interested in Windoze 3.1!!! Yet, hold on!!! I'm Starlink Node
manager here.. and over there, we run RSolaris systems.. so maybe
something in the Sol2.5 range may take my fancy...

Hey! Hold on.. this guy is also does WebServer support.. and only today, he
was knee-deep in an AIX4.1.4 box.. maybe we should send him AIX stuff..
What about that mailer he installed over at Geography?? Better send him
HP-UX as well...

Fact is, you can't TELL what OS I'm interested in from the WebBrowser I'm
using now, or even the OS of the system I'm logged into now... that's a
redundant theory!! That's like saying that you saw me in a Ford Taxi, so I
like Ford Motors cars!!!

Why not do the thing that would A> save you a lot of time and hassle B>
save others a lot of time and hassle and C> probably promote you and your
company as 'some nice guys who are on the ball' and ASK users what OS they
prefer??? Doesn't take much.. there's a really old, archaic Web method
called FORMS which, while it doesn't take the power out of the remote
user's hands or attempt to do things behind their backs and make
shudderingly stupid assumptions about 'what type' of user they are, works
cos it asks 'Who are you, and what are you about?'

This sort of thing, people trying to 'work out what sort of person' I am,
really damn well f*****g annoys me. If I was to get heated about it, and a
little off the track, I'd say it was akin to 'electronic jingoism/fascism/
racism'.. 'Oh! He uses SunOS! We dont want to know him!!!!'

So, do us all a favour and try and make US, the end users, feel like we
have opinions that are worth listening to, mouth/fingers to express those
opinions and a mind to link the two together!!!

As a sub-note, I deliberately use a browser that does NOT support cookies
when calling 'new/unknown' webpages for EXACTLY this reason. I don't want
your crappy little cookies in MY filespace.. and if I find any, I WILL BE
CHARGING YOU A MONTHLY DATA STORAGE RATE!!!!!

You push your crap onto me, and I'll charge you for it, OK???

Now, do me, the world, and the web a favor and stop trying to 'root thru
our bottom drawers to find out what makes us tick'. Cookies are about
maintaining STATE.. I use them with some of my local WebPages, so that my
local users can access them and know which ones have been updated/added
since they last came to my box.. NOT so that I can work out whether
they've been 'Windozing' today!!!!

Flame off!!!!!!

A slightly miffed Steff

: Steff Watkins, UBris Starlink Site Manager
: University of Bristol, Clifton, Bristol, AVON, BS8 1TH, UK
:
: RFC-822 : Steff.Watkins@bris.ac.uk
: X-400   : /G=Steff/S=Watkins/O=Bristol/PRMD=UK.AC/ADMD= /C=GB/   
: HTTP    : http://sw.cse.bris.ac.uk/
: Phone: +44 177 287869 (external)   3046 / 7651    (internal)  
: 'Ok.. So the .sig's 8 lines long!!! So what???'

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