The Internet, boiled down....

You often hear phrases like ‘Facebook knows your every move’, or ‘Google knows you better than you know yourself’, but how does the Internet actually work, and how do these companies do it?

When you type in a website address into your browser, say Facebook.com, you are actually sending a command to Facebook to return to you an html file (text file) which your browser then renders (puts together) into a website. This file contains the normal information you see on Facebook, like posts, stories, the ‘what’s on your mind section’ alongside placeholders containing links, or directions, to third party servers for any videos, images or adverts to be populated. As we press enter the site renders, pulling in information from the main server as well as all these third party servers. This all happens in a blink of an eye, so to the user it all seamlessly loads into a web page.

But, by requesting the content on to your browser you are also granting any servers which render information on the website permission to store text documents (known as cookies) on your computer. Note this is any servers, so not just Facebook, but also the third party websites filling the placeholders. 

These cookies are then sent back and forth each time you load up the website to the company which ‘owns’ the cookie, updating the information stored within. They are stored on your computer in an encrypted, or locked, manner, so if we choose to open them we can’t understand the information the company is storing on us, on our personal computers.

The real tracking arises as we have huge advert networks like Google and Facebook that are omnipresent on websites. Each time you see a blue thumbs up on a site, or an advert, you’re actually seeing a door in from Facebook/Google to update their cookies with information which can include anything from where you’ve been, how long you’ve been there, and what you’re doing, slowly building up your profile from your IP address (your computers unique identifier) to target marketing at you.

The advertisement market is made up of the 2 giants, Google and Facebook, in what’s known as network businesses - the bigger they are, the more they know about you and therefore the more powerful they are as advertising vehicles. Through their ability to post cookies through their third party ads they end up being able to build up a wholesome picture of what sites you are visiting throughout the day and in turn what you like.

But like everything, from the point of view of companies, there are flaws to cookies. Users can block cookies on their browsers and delete them as and when they want. However, as websites begin to lose profits through ad blockers and cookie blockers we are seeing more and more sites not allowing usage without unblocking these functions. So remember, see an ad, see a thumbs up, you’re being tracked!

As always, please let me know your thoughts, feedback and comments are very welcome!