Privacy brouhaha reveals Google's split personality
20.05.12
Reported that three other online ad companies were taking advantage of this loophole. And separately, Google offers Ads Preferences Manager that allows people to opt out of DoubleClick cookies. But, in this case, it's hard to see what would compel the company to disable opt-out settings in Safari.
Google, for its part, says the Safari backdoor allowed Google+ users on iOS devices to see +1 buttons and use them to indicate to their network when they saw a product or service in an ad they liked. "Last year, we began using this functionality to enable features for signed-in Google users on Safari who had opted to see personalized ads and other content--such as the ability to '+1' things that interest them," the company said in a statement.
Unfortunately, the way this +1/Safari initiative was implemented allowed other Google ad cookies to be set on the browser, which was unintentional, according to Google. The Google cookie was temporary, but it opened the door for additional cookies. "We have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers," the company said, adding that the code has been disabled. "It's important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect personal information."
Source: ZDNet Asia