Addressed to: [log in to unmask]
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** Reply to note from [log in to unmask] Mon, 16 Oct 2000 10:12:38 +0000
Hi,
> If you are monitoring the IP address associated with particular machines used
> by aspecific individual then I reckon it is.
>
> By the way - why do Data Controllers install monitoring software if it is not
> to identify specific individuals!!!
In the normal course of events there is no specific monitoring as
such. Simply, webservers log a number of things every time a
transaction is made. Mainly logs are made of:
IP address of client;
Referrer page (ie. what/where is the page which provided the link to
the page we are asked to serve);
Which is the requested page;
Agent (ie. browser) the client uses;
Other bits and pieces like size of file, times, dates, transfer method
etc.
This information in itself does not identify an individual but I guess
if the IP address is linked to an individual then it does ... thus it
is personnal data. Logging is not a luxury, in some cases it is
necessary for solving problems. Logging in itself is not illegal.
Distributing the logs though would be illegal under DP.
What I am saying is there is nothing nasty and devious on web
servers which spies on people through logging. It is possible to
process the logs and come to all sorts of usefull or daft conclusions
but then there are thousands of ways of lying with statistics. At the
end of the day a server logs what happens within its own area, ie the
files it serves.
===================================
The worry is cookies, which _sit_ on your computer, can follow all
the activities you do with your browser (amd maybe more) and then
at the right opportunity they upload that information back to some
server (illegally so). At best, they are the equivalent of the
brownie points you get every time you produce some shop club card at
the checkout of stores. Normally, for a 1% payback they learn your
shopping habits, the aim being to target you to spend more.
Cookies have recently made noises in the USA, where people realised
that there was a lot of cross referencing of their personnal details
many details leaked through cookies.
===================================
Sorry for all this. I am repeating what is probably known to many
people but I am trying to separate two issues.
Regards
Charles
==============================================
Charles Christacopoulos, Secretary's Office, University of Dundee,
Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Tel: +44+(0)1382-344891. Fax: +44+(0)1382-201604.
http://somis.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
Scottish Search Maestro http://somis2.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
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