A Normative Ethical Analysis Of Privacy And The World Wide Web: How Should Webmasters Use Cookies?

This paper examines how webmasters should use cookies, a potentially invasive technology that offers webmasters the ability to track users' online behavior at a high level of detail. Using both deontological and teleological principles, the analysis suggests webmasters ought to use cookies, but only with the informed consent of users. Implications for future research based on this conclusion are presented.