Tracking across multiple websites using only first party cookies

MrBrian · Dec 16, 2013

Tracking across multiple websites using only first party cookies (blog post)

From hxxp://blog.xot.nl/2013/10/04/tracking-across-multiple-websites-using-only-first-party-cookies/ :

Using only first party cookies (and the HTTP redirection mechanism), website visitors can be tracked and profiled across multiple sites. My student, Koen van Ingen, stumbled upon this while studying the cookie wall in the Netherlands. You can read more about this in his bachelor thesis (in Dutch). Here is how it works.
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From How redirectors solve the third-party cookie problem [for advertisers]:

As with any solution, there are some additional technical gotchas, so this method may not be something just any company can get to work. But we have tested and verified it with many browsers, including Safari on iOS devices, so we are confident in our understanding of how best to track the performance of our customers’ ads.
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From [Firefox] Third-party cookies should be blocked by default [2006]:

While I agree, and have my own preferences set that way, in practice it doesn't help all that much. Advertisers have long gotten around this through redirects and hosting ads in frames. You can easily test this by setting the "no 3rd party" pref and the "ask me about cookies" pref and see all the requests you get for advertizer's cookies anyway. Or just check your cookies and see all the advertisers in there that you have never directly visited.

Withholding cookies during redirects or from frames breaks lots of legit sites, so the "no 3rd party cookies" option is mostly a feel-good measure but doesn't accomplish much.
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In my tests of a few websites, not allowing third-party cookies in Firefox 26.0 was 100% effective. Can anyone find a counterexample?

caspian · Dec 16, 2013

I have 3rd party cookies disabled plus Ghostery and Noscript. Surely that is enough.

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