Title
HTTP Cookies: Standards, Privacy, and Politics
Author
David M Kristol, Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies
Date
1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 5/9/2001)
(Original Publish Date: 5/9/2001)
Abstract
How did we get from a world where cookies were something you ate and where "non-techies" were unaware of "Netscape cookies" to a world where cookies are a hot-button privacy issue for many computer users? This paper will describe how HTTP "cookies" work, and how Netscape's original specification evolved into an IETF Proposed Standard. I will also offer a personal perspective on how what began as a straightforward technical specification turned into a political flashpoint when it tried to address non-technical issues such as privacy.