Cookies Policy

Matrix Mapping of a Key IT Related Organizational Issue Concerning Privacy.

Why I Chose the Dilemma

Cookie information is revealed when accessing the same website, as it recognizes you instantly due to the data stored from the first login. This data is analyzed in terms of behavioral patterns and interest to reveal patterns, trends, and likes, which is used to build detailed customer profiles used for marketing purposes (Armario, 2020). This is apparent in online shopping where users get notification of suggested purchases for items that they have browsed for in the past. The ads are strategically placed in social media sites through pop up ads after using the site’s search engine.

Why I Chose the Three Principles

The three principles, autonomy, confidentiality, and publicity, concept revolves around commitment to improve transparency regarding internet use. There is a plethora of private data stored on the internet; thus, it is the users’ and companies’ responsibility to manage the data responsibly. This is aided by policies aligned to the principles chosen that reflect a knack for privacy and confidentiality in terms of online private data.

Analysis to Identify Actions in Matrix

The research analysis is discussed in terms of laws and regulations. Online data privacy is managed and regulated by laws and policies enacted by various institutions, where the rights and duties of users and internet providers are outlined. The users are entitled to privacy regarding their data, while website companies must inform users of how their websites process and use their data.

Overview of the Policy

The ethical issue of search engines collecting and sharing personal data without its users’ consent continues to develop with the rise of the world wide web. These sites place cookies on the computers and mobile devices of the users, which are used to collect information regarding the interaction with the site to provide for better user experience and custom advertising based on user profiles built relating to suit personal interests. Third-party affiliates are included in the cookies technology as partners and perform consumer profiling and statistics research, thus infringing on the users’ privacy. Cookies are a form of collecting personal data; hence, regulations must prevent data abuse by sharing the data with third parties.

Purpose of the Policy

This cookie policy is initiated to safeguard users’ private data and mitigate and terminate the non-voluntary disclosure of personal information. This policy aims to define company rules that must be followed to collect and use confidential information from users. The policy promulgates the technical and security configurations users and websites must implement to ensure confidentiality, privacy, and integrity in using personal data (Velagapudi and Gupta, 2019). This is fulfilled by way of full disclosure of its usage of data, thus creating a transparent atmosphere between the users and websites. The policy is meant to educate users on the pros and cons of using cookies for them to make an informed decision whether to accept or reject their usage on your device. Consent is required from the user for the website to access the private data to build customer specifications.

Scope of the Policy

The stakeholders involved in the policy execution include; personal users, company websites, and affiliated third parties. Personal users of the websites have a role in consenting to the policy’s guidelines allowing the use of cookies to collect their private data and customize their experience. The company website and affiliated third party websites display the cookies policy in consent notices, which pop up when they visit the site. The pop-ups provide a brief description of the policy and two options; accept or reject the cookies (Bornschein, Schmidt and Maier, 2020). The information disclosed includes; what cookies are used by the company, how the cookies collect private data, and how users can control the amount of data collected through limiting a website to place on their devices. The responsibility of placing the ads on the websites lies with the company and are required to appear within seconds of the users accessing the website.

Policy Points

Transparency is critical in establishing a cookies policy; thus, the information should be clear and concise, covering all necessary areas to avoid ambiguity. Each organization should have a compliant cookies policy that ensures users know their limited privacy in the sites. To conform to the policy, the organization ought to have clauses that include; stating that you use cookies on the website and explaining what they are, the type of cookies in use, disclosing why you use cookies and how users can opt-out the policy.

The policy starts by stating the usage of cookies on their website and defining what cookies are using simple, easy to understand language. The language used should be simple and straightforward for the users to understand what entails cookies to consent or dissent from their devices’ usage. The next clause outlines which type of cookies are in use in an easily understood language. The policy states each type of cookie in use and how they are used to allow the users to decide which type of cookies to opt out depending on the analyses of the information relayed. The policy goes further and states how the information collected from the cookies is used. The policy clearly explains how personal data is handled by the website and affiliated third party institutions (Degeling, Utz, Lentzsch, Hosseini, Schaub and Holz, 2018). Another clause included is how users can accept or disable or adjust settings regarding cookies from their devices. The policy will use express consent from users when accepting the usage of cookies on the website. The policy’s consent notice will be displayed as a pop up when the user arrives at the website and will be conspicuous for the users to notice.

Sanctions

Regular audits of its policy will ensure enforcement regarding adherence to the general cookie policy. The audits check whether all the clauses have been met, and explicit consent is enabled in terms of user’s usage. Non-compliance to the guidelines set will be treated as a violation, whether done intentionally or unintentionally. The consequences and sanctions for non-compliance are in the form of hefty fines to the companies in charge and pursuance of legal action against the unruly website.