BigNerds.com

• Category: English
• Words: 945
• Pages: 4
• Views: 3
• Popularity Rank: 1515

Internet

One of the most important advances in the rapidly
developing world of electronic commerce is the
ability of companies to develop personalized
relationships with their customers.
Personalization empowers companies to better
understand their customers\' wants and desires and
improve customer service by tailoring offerings to
the unique needs of individuals . At the same
time, this has become a subject of hot controversy
because the technology involves the extensive
collection and use of personal data. Many, if not
most, online shoppers and surfers are not aware of
the extent of how much and what kind of info can
be gathered about a person, even someone who is
just visiting and not shopping or signing up for
anything. Through the use of the \"cookie\"
technology, a person\'s movement through the Web
can be tracked to provide information. Using
cookies a website assigns each individual a unique
identifier (but not the actual identity), so that
the he may be recognized in subsequent visits to
the site. On each return visit, the site can call
up user-specific information, which could include
the consumer\'s preferences or interests, as
indicated by documents the consumer accessed in
prior visits or items the consumer clicked on
while in the site. Websites can also collect
information about consumers through hidden
electronic navigational software that captures
information about site visits, including web pages
visited and information downloaded, the types of
browser used, and the referring websites\' Internet
addresses. The result is that a website about
gardening that Jane Doe that could sell not only
her name to mail-order companies, but also the
fact that she spent a lot of time one Saturday
night last month reading...

You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!

• View Full Essay