At 4:17 PM +1000 26/8/15, Frank O'Connor wrote: >Cookies were created because HTTP as a protocol can't maintain 'state'. This >was both a good thing - because it allows the Web to simply drop the >connection once it has passed the requested Web page - and a bad thing, >because sometimes you need to do things in sessions, or even across sessions, >that require the Web server to interact with the remote client, and keep track >of 'state'. > >Cookies were invented to remedy this deficiency, and allow 'state' to be >maintained between server and client > >That said, cookies can also be used to store any number of data items and >information, and to be persistent (always there) and to report back on any >amount of things that have little or nothing to do with allowing you to run a >seamless interaction between server and client across session(s) the next time >you connect to a server capable of reading them > >And that's where they can be a danger to privacy and leave you vulnerable to >marketers and the like.
I thought I was going to hve some disagreements, but by the end of it no. Here's the version that I originally wrote in mid-1996, plus bits to 2001: http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/Cookies.html The earliest archived copy of the Netscape spec is from Oct 1996: https://web.archive.org/web/19961027104920/http://www3.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html And the earliest bit in Javascript documentation is from Aug 2000: https://web.archive.org/web/20000816092701/http://developer.netscape.com/docs/manuals/communicator/jsref/doc1.htm _____________________________________________ >> On 26 Aug 2015, at 3:21 pm, Tom Worthington <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> I will speaking about HTTP cookies on ABC Radio Canberra (666), Friday >> morning. What should I say? >> >> Here is all the advice I could find from the Australian Government: >> >> "Cookies are small bits of information left on your computer by websites >> you have visited which let the website 'remember' things about you. Even >> temporary information, such as the items you have in your shopping cart >> at a web retailer, may depend on cookies." >> https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/internet/stay-smart-online/computers/secure-your-internet-connection >> >> >> -- >> Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150 >> The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/ >> PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia http://www.tomw.net.au >> Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards >> Legislation >> >> Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science, >> Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/ >> _______________________________________________ >> Link mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link > >_______________________________________________ >Link mailing list >[email protected] >http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link -- Roger Clarke http://www.rogerclarke.com/ Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 2 6288 6916 http://about.me/roger.clarke mailto:[email protected] http://www.xamax.com.au/ Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W. Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
