Explainer · file B02 · 60 seconds
01 / 08 · Setup
SAFARI BLOCKS COOKIES.
third-party · default since 2003
02 / 08 · Tension
BLOCKS ? GOOGLE BYPASSED.
for 8 months · DoubleClick
03 / 08 · Reveal
FEBRUARY 2012
Jonathan Mayer
Stanford · code analysis
Ashkan Soltani
independent researcher
Wall Street Journal
publication
04 / 08 · Mechanism
fake form submit → cookie allowed
DoubleClick script
hidden submit
Safari
"user initiated" → cookie OK
exploit of behavioral flaw in Safari
05 / 08 · Scale
MILLIONS OF iPHONES. MOST OF THE INTERNET.
8 mos.
of active bypass
$22.5M
FTC fine — record
$17M
US states settlement
06 / 08 · Response
LARGEST FTC FINE
in FTC history through 2012
07 / 08 · Penalty
$22,500,000
FTC · October 2012
+ $17M from 37 US states · $5.5M Joffe class action. Google: "it was experimental code". FTC: "it was production code for 8 months".
08 / 08
SAFARI WORKAROUND
First proven case of Big Tech programmatically circumventing privacy controls.
File B02 in Big Tech Files.