GB2364408A - Web browser cookie management - Google Patents
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- GB2364408A GB2364408A GB0028027A GB0028027A GB2364408A GB 2364408 A GB2364408 A GB 2364408A GB 0028027 A GB0028027 A GB 0028027A GB 0028027 A GB0028027 A GB 0028027A GB 2364408 A GB2364408 A GB 2364408A
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
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Abstract
Cookie data for a specific user is logically segmented by persona, with each defined user persona having a separate cookie data repository 206 containing only cookie data for that persona. The user may utilize different personas for different browsing sessions with different underlying purposes on the Web. For example, a user may use different identities for work activities, personal activities, purchasing activities, etc.
Description
2364408 WEB BROWSER COOKIE MANAGEMENT The present invention generally
relates to browser state management 5 information ("cookies") and in particular to management of cookie data for a browser application. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to segmentation and selective disclosure of cookie data for a browser application based upon user personas.
10 Internet HyperText Transmission Protocol (HTTP) "browsers," or client applications designed to submit HTTP requests for information then display and/or play text, graphics/video, and audio data returned in response to the request, commonly support the use of "cookies." Cookies are simple, persistent client-side state information passed between an origin server 15 and a client agent, stored on the client side of the connection. The HTTP implementation for cookies is described in RFC-2109, entitled IIHTTP State Management Mechanism."
Cookies are employed by HTTP servers to differentiate between 20 browsers or other client agents which access information from the server, allowing Web sites to be customized for individual users identified by the specific instance or copy of a browser application utilized to access the server. user-specific information is stored in a text format on the system containing the browser application, within individual, indexed text files 25 in a "Cookies" directory for Microsoft Internet Explorer, and within a line in a "cookies.txt" file for Netscape Navigator or Netscape Communicator.
As an example of how cookies are utilized, a search engine might store information regarding previous searches initiated by a particular 30 system and/or a specific browser application within that system, then utilize such information in sorting results of later searches for display.
Thus, for instance, a code may be stored within the cookie data by a search engine when a user conducts a search on the keywords "fine art."
Subsequent searches on "Mona Lisa" at the same site utilizing the same 35 system and browser may produce results which are secondarily sorted to list matching search results referring to "fine art"--or even "Da Vinci"-before other results. The search engine infers from the cookie data that the user is interested in that category of matching search results rather than, e.g., the MONALISA project, the Mona Lisa Bakery, or Mona Lisa Is Porn Star 40 Mall, and lists thcse search results first.
Cookie data may also be employed to customize the display of advertising from a Web site by selecting from various alternative "banner" ads or tailoring advertising content depending on the historical information contained within the cookie data. Where cookie data for a 5 user's prior visits to a book seller's Web site indicates that the user has purchased books relating to taxes, for instance, banner ads for financial services organizations may be selected for display to the user rather than similar banner ads for electronics retailers or game sellers, or advertise ments for a software vendor may contain links relating to tax or financial 10 software rather than random or more popular software selections.
Collection and compilation of individual user cookie data for "data mining, 11 attempts to develop demographic analyses useful for marketing efforts, has also been under taken by various retailers and other entities 15 transacting business on the Internet. Cookie data is retrieved from individual users during each visit to a particular Website, matched and collated with previously collected data for the same user (identified by system and/or browser application), and compiled with similar data for other users for analysis of buying trends, success of promotional ventures, 20 and the like.
An underlying weakness for virtually all uses of cookie data of the type described above is the reliability of the cookie data as an indicator of a particular user's interests or reactions to various stimuli. A number 25 of factors may distort or destroy the value of cookie data as an indication of how a user thinks or may be expected to react. For example, a user working on a project related to her employment may have occasion to seek information regarding holidays in predominantly Islamic countries. once the project is complete, the cookie data for that user--which will likely 30 include information regarding her previous searches for Islamic holidays--may be employed to select advertisements to be displayed to the user during subsequent visits to the search site, although the user may have no further interest in that subject matter. Thus, advertise ment selections related to the searches for Islamic holidays, such as offers 3S regarding books on Islamic studies, will not accurately reflect the interests of the user.
As another example, a user may shop on-line for a friend or relative, such as a teen-age niece. Cookie data relating to such purchases cannot be 40 relied upon as indic ative of the user's regular interests or buying habits. With existing browsers, however, such cookie data cannot be distinguished from cookie data directly related to the user's activities in areas of interest.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a mechanism for allowing 5 a user to segment work and personal cookie data.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of employing cookie data, comprising: defining a plurality of personas for a user; logically segmenting cookie data for the user and associating each 10 cookie data portion with one or more personas for the user; and responsive to formulating a request for data for the user: identifying a cookie data portion associated with an active persona for the user; and including only cookie data from the identified cookie data portion, if any, in the request 15 In an embodiment of the invention, cooker datafor a specific user is logically segmented by persona, with each defined user persona for the user having a separate cookie data repository containing only cookie data for that persona. The user may utilize different personas for different browsing sessions with different underlying purposes on the Web. For 20 example, rather than a single user identity for work activities, personal activities, purchasing activities, etc., the user may utilize a work persona for activities related to their employment. A separate persona having discrete cookie data not accessible from the work persona may be defined for personal or purchasing activities, protecting confidential 25 information such as credit card numbers from inadvertent disclosure during work related activities by the user. Purchasing or browsing history information may he similarly managed by the user employing separate personas. Cookie data may optionally be shared among personas under the user's control, or drawn from non-active personas when formulating a 30 request. Cookie data may be segmented in separate cookie files, within separate portions of a global cookie file, or within data objects contained by a wrapper object controlling access to all cookie data for a particular user. User preferences and defaults for a browser application may be applied globally across all personas for the user, without regard to the 35 active persona.
An embodiment of the invention will now been described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
40 Figure 1 depicts a data processing system network in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented; Figure 2 is a block diagram of cookie data logically segmented by user persona in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 5 Figures 3A-3B depict mock-ups of user dialogs for managing user personas and cookie properties for such user personas in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figures 4A-4C are high level flow charts for processes of selecting a 10 user persona for logically segmented cookie data, receiving cookie data for an active persona, and returning cookie data for an active persona in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
with reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference is to Figure 1, a data processing system network in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented is depicted. Data processing system network 102 includes one or more of servers 104-106 and one or more clients 108-110. Servers 104-106 and clients 108-110 exchange data, such as HyperText Transmission Protocol (HTTP) requests and responses 20 or HyperText Markup Language (HTML) data and accompanying graphical image or sound data, through the Internet 112 in accordance with the known art, utilizing, for example, the Transmission Convergence Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for data transfers.
25 Clients within data processing system network 102, such as client 110, include a browser application 114 for requesting data from servers 104-106, typically through HTTP requests. Browser application 114, which may be, for instance Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, may support multiple users. Accordingly, browser application 114 may utilize multiple 30 sets of user data 116a-116n, each corresponding to a different user. User data 116a-116n may include, for example, user preferences for the display of browser application 114, historical data identifying the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of data (or "pages") retrieved by a particular user through browser application 114, or cache data for pages previously 35 retrieved by the user utilizing browser application 114.
User data 116a-116n also includes browser state management or "cookie" data for browser application 114, with separate cookie data 118a-118n being maintained for each individual user within user data 116a-116n. Cookie data 118a-118n is typically maintained within a 40 "cookies.txt" file for Netscape Navigator and within individual files in a "cookies" directory for Internet Explorer.
Cookie data 118a-118n is simple text data stored within client 110 by servers 104-106 to differentiate between clients and to preserve state information regarding browser application 114 for a particular user.
Cookie data 118a- 118n is returned by ser-vers 104-106 with an HTTP object 5 and includes, for each "cookie," a range of URLs for which the cookie is valid. After receiving and storing cookie data 118a-118n, browser application 114 and/or client 110 includes the cookie within any HTTP request transmitted to URLs falling within the specified range.
10 Cookie data 118a-118n may be employed, for example, by shopping applications to store information about currently selected items, or by fee services sites to automatically transmit registration information and free the user from having to retype a userid for each connection, or by sites to store and employ per-user preferences (e.g., "my- yahoo. com"). Cookie data is 118a-118n for different users is maintained separately.
Cookie data 118a-118n is introduced to client 110 by a "set-cookie" header within an HTTP response, and includes a number of parameters such as expiration, domain and path specification of URLs for which the cookie is
20 valid, and the security to be employed with the cookie. When the URL within a subsequent HTTP request matches the specified URL for which the cookie is valid, the browser application 114 within client 110 includes the cookie data. A more detailed description of the mechanism by which cookie data is employed may be found in RFC-2109 entitled 11HTTP State Management 25 Information,,, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to Figure 2, a block diagram of cookie data logically segmented by user persona in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Cookie data 116n for a particular user 30 is logically segmented to correspond to a plurality of personas for that user, with each cookie data segment 202a-202n including a persona identifier 204a-204n and the cookie data 206a-206n associated with that persona. Different users each have one or more discrete personas defined and employed for logically segmenting cookie data for that user.
Cookie data which is received during a browsing session by a particular user is associated with the persona for the user which is active at the time the cookie data is received. Similarly, the active persona for a user and the associated cookie data- -particularly the URL for that active 40 persona are employed whenever an HTTP request is submitted, for determining whether cookie data should be included with the request.
Segmentation of cookie data 116n as shown and described may be achieved in any of a variety of manners. Separate cookie files or cookie directories may be implemented for each distinct user persona.
Alternatively, a user persona field, containing persona identifiers
5 204a-204n, may be included within the cookie data 116n.
Preferably, however, a wrapper object 208 of the type known in the art is employed for the cookie data for a particular user, with the cookie data segments 202a-202n implemented as text objects contained within 10 wrapper object 208. Wrapper object 208 implements access control methods 210 to restrict storage and retrieval of cookie data to cookie data segment 202n for a currently selected user persona. Wrapper object 208 also implements persona management methods 212 allowing the user to add, delete, or modify existing personas.
The user personas described above allow a user to avoid having cookie data stored locally which incorrectly reflects that user's interests or preferences. A user who performs searches for a work project, for example,
may create a temporary persona specifically for that purpose. Similarly, 20 the user may exercise greater control over the cookie data which is stored locally and over the return of that cookie data during browsing sessions.
Although described above in the context of a browser application, user personas in accordance with the present invention may also be utilized 25 with other applications, such as a newsgroup reader application (e.g., Outlook Express, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington).
with reference now to Figures 3A and 3B, mock-ups of user dialogs for 30 managing user personas and cookie properties for such user personas in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention are depicted. Figure 3A is a mock-up of a user dialog f or managing user personas. Dialog 302 displays a list 304 of all currently defined personas, with the "active" or currently selected persona highlighted.
35 Dialog 302 also provides a control 306 allowing a currently selected persona to be designated as a "default" persona so that the user need not select a persona for each individual browsing session. Dialog 302 also includes controls 308 and 310 for adding and deleting personas, respectively, and a control 312 for modifying the properties of an existing 40 persona.
Figure 3B depicts a mock-up of a portion 314 of a user interface dialog 316 relating to the cookie properties of an active or currently selected persona. Cookie property control dialog portion 314 includes controls 318 (mutually exclusive "radio" buttons in the depicted example) 5 allowing the user to specify whether to accept all cookies for an active or currently selected user persona, accept only cookies which are sent back to the originating server, or disable cookies for the active or currently selected user persona. Dialog portion 314 also includes a control 320 allowing a user to require a warning before accepting a cookie under the 10 active persona. In addition, a control 322 allows a user to specify checking of other personas if no cookie data is located for a given originating site under that active persona, and a control 324 enabling cookie sharing among personas.
15 Referring to Figures 4A through 4C, high level flow charts for processes of selecting a user persona for logically segmented cookie data,
receiving cookie data for an active persona, and returning cookie data for an active persona in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention are illustrated. Figure 4A illustrates a process of selecting an 20 active persona for a browser session. The process begins at step 402, which depicts a browser application or similar application for which user personas may be employed being started.
The process first passes to step 404, which illustrates determining 25 whether a default persona has been designated by the user. A previous step, not shown, may involve identify ing a current user from among a plurality of users defined for the browser application and loading default properties and preferences specified for that user. If a default persona has been designated, the process proceeds to step 406, which illustrates 30 setting the active persona to the default persona. If no default user persona has been defined for the current user, however, the process proceeds instead to step 408, which depicts prompting the user to select a persona and setting the active persona to the user- selected persona.
35 From either of steps 406 or 408, the process next passes to step 410, which depicts a determination of whether the user has initiated a change in the active or currently selected persona or in the properties defined for the currently selected persona. If so, the process proceeds to step 412, which illustrates setting the active persona to the new user-selected 40 persona or altering the properties employed for the active persona, as appropriate. Although depicted, for purposes of simplicity, as a polling step in the exemplary embodiment, those skilled in the art will understand that in practice step 410 will more commonly be implemented as an object-oriented event notification in response to a user employing controls to select a new persona or alter the properties associated with a currently 5 selected persona.
From step 412, or from step 410 if no change in the active persona or persona properties is detected, the process passes next to step 414, which depicts a deter mination of whether the browser application has been 10 closed. If not, the process returns to step 410 and continues monitoring for a change in active persona or persona properties. If so, however, the process proceeds instead to step 416, which illustrates the process becoming idle until a browser or similar application is again opened.
15 Figure 4B illustrates a process for receiving cookie data from a server in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The process begins at step 418, which depicts receipt of a "SET COOKIE" statement or equivalent within the header of an HTTP data transfer. The process then passes to step 420, which illustrates a determination of 20 whether a default and/or active persona has been specified for a current browsing session.
The user is preferably required to specify or select an active persona-whether by default or by active selection-- when a browsing 25 session is initiated. However, since this requirement is not strictly necessary or may not be strictly enforced, it may be necessary in some implementations of the present invention to determine whether an active persona has been specified for allocation of cookie data. An altern ative is to simply allocate cookie data to all existing users personas when 30 cookie data is received with no active persona being selected, or to merely dump such cookie data into a persona- independent cookie repository.
If no active or currently selected user persona is specified, the process of the exemplary embodiment proceeds to step 422, which depicts 35 prompting the user to select an active persona and setting the active persona to the user selection. From step 422, or f rom step 420 if an active or default user persona is already specified, the process passes to step 424, which illustrates a determination of whether the "warn -before -accept" property controlling acceptance of cookie data is set.
40 In existing browsers, users may decline to accept cookie data completely, or may elect to view the cookie data before deciding whether to accept it. Such features may be maintained within the present invention.
If the 11 warn-bef ore -accept" property is set for the active user 5 persona, the process proceeds to step 426, which depicts prompting the user to accept the cookie data. Otherwise, or once the user has elected to accept the cookie data, the process passes to step 428, which illustrates a determination of whether 11 cookie- sharing" is enabled. In the present embodiment, cookie data received during a browsing session may be "shared" 10 (i.e., written into all appropriate cookie repositories) between the active persona and other defined user personas.
Such sharing of cookie data may be specified by the user on a persona -by -persona basis. one persona, when active, may enable cookie 15 sharing with all other personas, or only with a select group. Also, a persona which, when active, shares cookie data with a second persona need not receive cookie data when the second persona is active. For example, one persona may be configured to share all cookie data received with a second persona which does not reciprocate the sharing, thereby creating a 20 persona containing only a subset of cookie data for the second persona.
This feature may be utilized for personal security purposes, as described in further detail below. The user may be provided controls over the cookie-sharing properties of each individual persona.
25 If cookie sharing is enable for the active persona when cookie data is received, the process proceeds to step 430, which depicts a determination of whether the "prompt-for- sharing" property is set.
Sharing of cookie data may be f ixed or, at the election of the user, dynamically specified at the time the cookie data is received. The user 30 may wish to share selected cookie data among personas, but only for selected originating servers (e.g., those in which the user has confidence) or only after viewing the cookie data.
If the "prompt - f or- sharing,, property is set, the process proceeds to 35 step 432, which illustrates prompting the user to specify cookie sharing for the received cookie data. The user may be presented with a list of currently defined user personas, such as that depicted in element 304 in Figure 3A, and allowed to select (with multiple selection enabled) all personas with which the received cookie data is to be shared. Although 40 steps 426 and 432 are depicted as separate or discrete steps, those skilled in the art will recognize that a single user dialog may be employed for these two steps. The same dialog may also allow a user to select cookie sharing properties for a persona dynamically, deciding which, if any, personas with which to share received cookie data at the time the received cookie data is accepted.
If the "prompt - f or- sharing" property is not set, or once the user has specified cookie sharing for the received cookie data, the process then proceeds to step 434, which illustrates setting the received cookie for the sharing personas. The cookie is set for each sharing persona in the 10 conventional manner, by adding or overwriting a discrete cookie file or a line of text within a global cookie file.
The process passes next to step 436, which depicts setting the received cookie for the active persona (independently of whether the cookie 15 is also set for one or more "sharing" personas), and then to step 438, which illustrates the process becoming idle until further cookie data is received.
Figure 4C illustrates a process of returning cookie data in 20 accordance with the present embodiment. The process begins at step 440,
which depicts an HTTP request being formulated. The process then passes to step 442, which illustrates a determination of whether an active or default user persona is specified. If not, the process proceeds to step 444, which depicts prompting the user to specify an active persona.
If an active persona is specified, or once the user specifies an active persona, the process proceeds to step 446, which depicts a determination of whether cookie data for the active persona contains a match for the "origin ating" server--that is, whether the server to which 30 the HTTP request being formulated is directed (as determined by the URL which is the subject of the HTTP request) matches the originating server designation of cookie data for the active persona. If so, the process proceeds to step 448, which illustrates including the matching cookie data within the header of the HTTP request being formulated. The process of the 35 exemplary embodiment then proceeds to step 456, which depicts the process becoming idle until another HTTP request is formulated.
If no cookie data originating from the target URL is located for the active persona, the process then proceeds instead to step 450, which 40 depicts a determination of whether searching of cookie data for other personas is enabled. The user may elect, for some personas on a persona -by -persona basis, to allow cokkie data from other personas to be returned with a subsequent HTTP request if no match is found within cookie data for the active persona. If searching of other personas is enabled, the process proceeds to step 452 illustrates a determination of whether the 5 originating server is matched for cookie data for one or more other personas.
If cookie data from the target URL is found for other personas, the process proceeds to step 454, which depicts including cookie data from 10 another persona or personas (other than the active persona) within the HTTP request being formulated. If a conflict exists between the cookie data found for two or more non-active personas, the most recent cookie data may be utilized, or the user may be prompted to select the cookie data to be included in the HTTP request, and/or associated persona for such cookie 15 data. Additionally, the user may be dynamically prompted to decide whether to search other personas if no matching cookie data may be found for the active persona.
From step 454, and from step 452 if no matching cookie data may be 20 found for non-active personas or step 450 if searching of non-active personas for matching cookie data is not enable, the process passes to step 456, which illustrates the process becoming idle until another HTTP request is f ormulated.
25 Like a userid, the persona identifier for an active persona maybe a variable which is returned to an HTTP server and included within the cookie data set by that server. The personas within collected data may accordingly be utilized in data mining to more accurately characterize the user within demographic breakdowns.
Logical segmentation of cookie data by persona may be employed for personal security purposes. For instance, cookie data containing credit card information may be associated with a persona which is employed only when purchases are being made. The user may therefore browse extensively 35 with confidential credit card information remaining secure, dynamically switch to a "buy" persona including the credit card information within associated cookie data at the time of a purchase, then immediately after the purchase switch back to a persona which does not contain confidential information within the associated cookie data. A user may control 40 purchasing history information in a similar fashion.
It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functional data processing system and/or network, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is capable of being distributed in the form of a computer usable 5 medium of instructions in a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of computer usable mediums include: nonvolatile, hard-coded type mediums such as read only memories (ROMs) or erasable, electrically programmable read 10 only memories (EEPROMs), recordable type mediums such as floppy disks,hard disk drives and CD-ROMs, and transmission type mediums such as digital and analog communication links.
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Claims (12)
1 A method of employing cookie data, comprising:
5 defining a plurality of personas for a user; logically segmenting cookie data for the user and associating each cookie data portion with one or more personas for the user; and 10 responsive to formulating a request for data for the user:
identifying a cookie data portion associated with an active persona for the user; and 15 including only cookie data from the identified cookie data portion, if any, in the request.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of defining a plurality of personas for a user further comprises:
defining one or more personas for each of a plurality of users.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of logically segmenting cookie data for the user and associating each cookie data portion with one 25 or more personas for the user further comprises:
associating a cookie data element uniquely with one persona for the user.
30
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of including only cookie data from the identified cookie data portion, if any, in the request further comprises:
determining whether the identified cookie data portion associated 35 with the active persona includes a cookie data element which is associated with a server targeted by the request; and responsive to identifying a cookie data element within the cookie data portion associated with the active persona which is associated with 40 the server targeted by the request, including the cookie data element within the request.
5. A method of managing cookie data, comprising:
responsive to receiving cookie data from an originating server, determining an active persona for a current user of a system receiving the 5 cookie data; and storing the received cookie data in a repository uniquely associated with the active persona.
10
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of storing the received cookie data in a repository uniquely associated with the active persona further comprises:
storing the received cookie data in a cookie file for the active is persona.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of storing the received cookie data in a repository uniquely associated with the active persona further comprises:
storing the received cookie data within a portion of a cookie file associated with the active persona.
S. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of storing the received 25 cookie data in a repository uniquely associated with the active persona further comprises:
storing the received cookie data within a data object for the active persona, wherein the data object is contained within a wrapper object 30 containing all cookie data for the user.
9. A system for employing cookie data, comprising:
means for defining a plurality of personas for a user; logically segmenting cookie data for the user and associating each cookie data portion with one or more personas for the user; and means, responsive to formulating a request for data for the user, for identifying a cookie data portion associated with an active persona for the user; and including only cookie data from the identified cookie data 5 portion, if any, in the request.
10. A system for managing cookie data, comprising:
means, responsive to receiving cookie data from an originating 10 server, for determining an active persona for a current user of a system receiving the cookie data; and means for storing the received cookie data in a repository uniquely associated with the active persona.
11. A computer program product within a computer usable medium for employing cookie data, comprising:
instructions for defining a plurality of personas for a user; logically segmenting cookie data for the user and associating each cookie data portion with one or more personas for the user; and instructions, responsive to formulating a request for data for the 25 user, for identifying a cookie data portion associated with an active persona for the user; and 30 including only cookie data from the identified cookie data portion, if any, in the request.
12. A computer program product for managing cookie data, comprising:
35 instructions, responsive to receiving cookie data from an originating server, for determining an active persona for a current user of a system receiving the cookie data; and instructions for storing the received cookie data in a repository 40 uniquely associated with the active persona.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
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US46150799A | 1999-12-14 | 1999-12-14 |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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GB0028027D0 (en) | 2001-01-03 |
GB2364408B (en) | 2003-11-19 |
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