Cookie Origin Detection via Initiator Directed Acyclic Graph
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Solution Overview
Problem
The widespread use of website cookies raises significant privacy concerns due to the potential for tracking and collecting user information without explicit consent, despite efforts from privacy laws and regulations.
Innovation Solution
A computer system is developed to detect the origin of webpage cookies by creating cookie and initiator snapshots, generating an initiator directed acyclic graph, and displaying information on the link between cookies and their initiators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cookies are used to track user information, then user convenience and personalized content are improved, but user privacy and control over personal data deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (cookie audit tool) that sits between the cookie-setting process and the user. This intermediary automatically audits cookies, identifies their origins and purposes, and presents this information to users in an understandable format, enabling informed consent without requiring users to directly analyze complex cookie policies
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring and auditing cookie usage, then providing this information back to users through accessible interfaces. This creates a closed-loop system where users can see what data is being collected, by whom, and for what purpose, allowing them to adjust their preferences accordingly
2Productivity
If comprehensive cookie tracking is implemented, then targeted advertising and content personalization are improved, but user awareness and control over data collection deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy or representation of the complex cookie tracking system that users can understand. Instead of presenting raw technical cookie data, the system generates human-readable summaries, visualizations, and explanations of what each cookie does, making the invisible tracking process visible and comprehensible to average users
3Reliability
If website owners implement detailed cookie policies, then transparency and user consent are improved, but complexity of implementation and user comprehension deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic self-auditing of cookie policies, reducing the need for manual legal and technical analysis. The tool automatically scans, identifies, and categorizes cookies based on their behavior and origin, generating compliance reports without requiring extensive human intervention, thus simplifying the implementation burden on website owners
Data Source
AI summary
A computer system for origin detection for webpage cookies loads a webpage. Loading the webpage causes a browser to store one or more cookies. The computer system creates a first cookie snapshot of the one or more cookies and a first initiator snapshot of one or more initiators for each cookie. The computer system then generates, from the first cookie snapshot and the first initiator snapshot, an initiator directed acyclic graph. Further, the computer system displays information, from the initiator directed acyclic graph, on a link between a particular cookie and a particular initiator.