The Cookie Monster : En studie över journalistikstudenters samt medie- och kommunikationsstudenters kunskaper, åsikter och ställningstagande gällande webbsidors användning av cookies

• Main Authors: Lidéri, Felix, Ågren, Agnes
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media 2015
• Subjects: Cookies; övervakning; panopticon; filter bubble
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-276778

Since the introduction of online HTTP-cookies, the technology has been widely discussed, both in terms of its actual function, as well as what it can do to users’ behaviors on the Internet. Cookies are small unique text files found within websites on the Internet that can collect and store personal information in order to enhance the users’ experience, as well as to provide the website with essential information about the user. By a literature review that was conducted on the subject, an unawareness among Internet users of how websites use cookies was found. Most users do not know what kind of information a cookie can store and how their privacy today can be violated. With this in mind, we conducted a internet based survey and a focus group interview to study journalism students and media and communication students knowledge about websites usage of cookies and furthermore, how the students opine the technology. This, since they are expected to have a higher knowledge than the general student about the subject since they are studying to assumably work within branches where they may have important parts regarding ICT in the future. By applying Michel Foucault theory Panopticon, Jürgen Habermas The Public Sphere and Sandra Petronio’s Communication Privacy Management Theory to the result of the study, we could see that there is a general unawareness among the students about what kind of information a cookie can collect. Also, the students express negative opinions regarding this harvesting of information, yet little effort is made to obstruct or deny web sites’ use of cookies.