{"id":3073,"date":"2023-01-18T10:15:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T15:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/articles\/cookie-pop-ups-why-you-should-think-twice-hitting-accept\/"},"modified":"2023-02-22T14:09:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T19:09:46","slug":"cookie-pop-ups-why-you-should-think-twice-hitting-accept","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/articles\/cookie-pop-ups-why-you-should-think-twice-hitting-accept\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I hit \u201caccept\u201d on cookie pop-ups?"},"featured_media":42557,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[187],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"person_tax":[],"region_tax":[],"state":[7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"topic_tax":[154],"class_list":["post-3073","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[154,162],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":false,"event_type":false,"campaigns":187,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":154}},"featured_image":42557,"caption_override":"","excerpt":"When we use free websites and apps, there's often cookies and other tracking technologies in the background harvesting huge amounts of data about who we are and what we do online. Virtually no laws rein in the companies behind these cookies, nor how they use and sell the info they collect.","updated_on":"20230222","sidebar_action":[],"hide_hero_image":false,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":[{"type":"dynamic","dynamic_person":{"site":4,"people":"208"},"information":{"name":"","image":null,"role":"","biography":"","contact":{"twitter":"","facebook":"","email":"","phone":""}}}]},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

If you\u2019ve ever used the Internet, you\u2019ve run into them: pop-ups informing you the site uses cookies and asking you to accept. For most of us, these pop-ups are an annoying blip standing between us and the content we came for, and hitting \u201caccept\u201d is the fastest way to get on with things. But there are plenty of reasons why you might want to think twice before clicking - from the types of data cookies collect on you, to who can buy that information, to how it ends up getting used.<\/p>\r\nSee \"What can I do to stop my data from being collected, sold and used<\/a>?\" at the end of this post for tips on how to handle cookie pop-ups to best protect your privacy and security.\r\n

What happens when you accept cookies<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

Once you hit \u201caccept\u201d on a webpage\u2019s cookie consent pop-up, it will embed little pieces of code (\u201ccookies\u201d) onto your browser or your device. Usually you\u2019re accepting multiple cookies at once, each performing different functions. Some cookies are designed to be useful for users, like those that allow a site to remember your username and password from visit to visit. Others are designed to be useful for website administrators, like detecting if certain pages are generating error messages and need to be fixed.<\/p>\r\n

Then there\u2019s third party cookies. These aren\u2019t about making a site easier to use or fixing bugs on the backend. They\u2019re usually in the business of harvesting your data and selling it to advertisers, and whomever else is willing to pay.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

What do web cookies do?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

Also known as \u201ctracking\u201d cookies, third party web cookies do pretty much what it sounds like: track you online. Tracking cookies stay on your browser or device long after you\u2019ve left a webpage or even shut down your computer for the day. They follow you across sites and over time, collecting information like your geographic location and recording all of your online behavior\u00a0 - like every site you visit, every purchase you make, and every web search you conduct - until the cookie expires, which could be months or even years after you hit \u201caccept\u201d.<\/p>\r\n

These tracking cookies transmit the running log of what you do and who you are to the company that owns them. These companies are largely in the AdTech business - the ecosystem of data harvesters, analysts, tech companies and marketers behind the targeted ads you see online. Your data can be bought by other actors as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Who uses cookies to get my data, and how is it used?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

Data brokers are one of the common companies behind cookies. Brokers specialize in taking all the info that their cookie has collected and combining it with info they\u2019ve gotten about you from other sources - like tracking software similar to cookies embedded on your phone by free downloads such as weather apps<\/a>. Brokers bundle what they know about you into profiles - and they know a lot.<\/p>\r\n

That\u2019s because watching everything a person does online is pretty revealing. Between our location, web browsing habits, and search history, companies can figure out our age, gender and marital status; our hobbies and interests; our political and religious beliefs; if we have kids or recently lost our job, if we\u2019re having trouble training our dog or are worried about hair loss. If you\u2019ve ever read about a health condition on WebMD, that info has been sold and shared with at least 20 different third parties<\/a> as of this writing. With all this raw data, brokers typically summarize what they know about us with tags, ranging from things like \u201cworking-class mom\u201d and \u201cfrequent alcohol drinker\u201d to \u201cfinancially challenged\u201d and \u201cdepression sufferer\u201d. These companies amass a lot of info; one data broker studied<\/a> by the Federal Trade Commission reported having 3,000 data segments on nearly every U.S. consumer.<\/p>","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_featured_resource","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_featured_resource":{"resource":[]}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Once your data is bundled into profiles, brokers sell it. Sometimes it\u2019s sold to other brokers wholesale. But a lot of times it\u2019s sold to a much broader audience of advertisers in online auctions that run in the background every time you load a webpage. Pay attention next time to how the ads load on a site - there\u2019s almost always a delay between you opening a page and the display of ads. In those seconds, a complex auction is putting what companies know about you up for sale and giving the highest bidder the chance to place an ad in front of you that the advertiser thinks will get you to click.<\/p>\r\n

Of course, clicking one of these ads usually ends up giving third parties another data point to add to your profile, plus the opportunity for even more companies to embed new cookies in your device. Today\u2019s Internet is a reinforcing cycle of link clicks, info gathering and data sales, over and over again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Should I be worried about cookies and companies selling my data?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

Data brokers and the rest of the AdTech system are virtually unregulated, and not all of the companies buying and selling your data have your best interests in mind.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Predatory targeted advertising<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

Data collected online can be used to take advantage of our private weaknesses and insecurities. For instance, people searching terms like \u201cneed money help\u201d on Google have been served ads for predatory loans<\/a> with staggering interest rates over 1,700%. A precious metals scam used highly targeted Facebook ads to get elderly seniors likely to be suspicious of institutions to spend\u00a0their retirement savings<\/a>\u00a0on grossly overpriced gold and silver coins. And last year, an investigation found Instagram content that promoted diet pills targeting users struggling<\/a> with eating disorders. Scams and harmful industries have always existed - but the big data system underpinning today\u2019s Internet has allowed them an unprecedented ability to identify, reach and take advantage of their victims.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Invasive targeted advertising<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

This system can hurt us in less obvious ways, too. Sometimes targeted ads are just plain annoying, but sometimes they can be painful reminders of things we\u2019d rather not be confronted by every time we log in to Facebook to see our nephew\u2019s updates. For instance, one woman making end-of-life arrangements after her mother died of cancer googled funeral costs, and then was\u00a0repeatedly served ads<\/a> across the web for all varieties of headstones and grave markers. Going online meant walking through a digital cemetery, whether she liked it or not.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Data security<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

There's also the issue of rising data hacks, breaches and leaks. All of this data about us changes hands rapidly and is widely spread. You can bet not all of these actors have the most cutting-edge data security protocols. The number of data breaches keeps rising every year; in 2021<\/a>, there were over 1,800 events, some of which exposed the personal information of millions of Americans - and not just web history, but information like social security numbers, too. When more and more companies keep info about you, the odds that it'll fall into the wrong hands increases. This system makes you more likely to become the victim of identity theft, or having to pay money to hackers holding your info for ransom, or even just ending up on more telemarketing lists wanting to contact you about your car's extended warranty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The whole thing's unregulated<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

Unlike credit bureaus whose business model also relies on the collection and sale of consumer data, data brokers and other AdTech companies are virtually untouched by any existing laws. The Fair Credit Reporting Act protects consumers\u2019 data collected by the credit bureaus from being used for illegitimate purposes - and while certainly still important, this law was passed in the 70s before the Internet really existed. New laws are sorely needed to protect people from today\u2019s online data harvesting and commercialization. PIRG is working to get these regulations in place.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

What can I do to stop my data from being collected, sold and used?<\/h2>\r\n

While we and other advocates continue fighting for meaningful regulatory reform, there are some things you personally can do.<\/p>\r\n\r\n