Websites use many methods to capture customer information. Overt methods are the obvious methods that the customer knows about; this is done by a customer filling in a form etc and they know what information is being taken about them.
In other cases, information is collected without the customer realising. Methods that do this are called Covert.
Some websites, when taking credit card details, will log the IP address of the computer making the transaction. This is a good security measure that the website takes as if someone has stolen a credit card and starts using it to make transactions online and the person states that their credit card has been stolen, the police can go to ASOS and ask for the IP address of the computer making that transaction. They can then go to the ISP (Internet Service Provider) and ask for the name that that particular computer is under. Then further action can be taken.
Other methods of collecting data involve putting a code on a website that leaves cookies on the user’s computer.
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your hard disk. It contains information about the user, normally in the form of an identification number. When the user visits the website again the cookie is read and the website can then access a database of information to look up the user’s identity.
Other information is also recorded, such as the number of time you visit the website, what items you look at etc.
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