HUFFINGTON POST: A Wall Street Journal report published Friday revealed that Google, along with several other companies, covertly tracked the online moves of users of Apple’s web browser Safari, in spite of the fact that the browser blocks such tracking by default.
To get around Safari’s default blocking, Google exploited a loophole in the browser’s privacy settings. While Safari does block most tracking, it makes an exception for websites with which a person interacts in some way—for instance, by filling out a form. So Google added coding to some of its ads that made Safari think that a person was submitting an invisible form to Google. Safari would then let Google install a cookie on the phone or computer.
(See a more detailed explanation from the Journal here, which includes several illustrations and charts. To learn more about cookies, check out Marketing Land’s primer here). … (more)
