My project aims to study the state of websurfer tracking employed on
the internet today. I believe that the state-of-the-art in
websurfer tracking is quite primitive, and there are many
improvements that could be made to allow for more complete and
pervasive tracking. In my project, I will explore the technologies
currently available to monitor websurfer behaviour, and look for
new data gathering and processing methods.

In my project I will study some of the technologies used for surfer
tracking today, including:
• Server log analysis
• Cookies
• Pervasive cookies served via a 3rd party
• Javascript monitoring
I will also research more exotic methods of gathering information, such
as tracking a test subjects’ eye and mouse movements as they
navigate a site.

I will then attempt to develop an improved way of tracking a surfers’
interaction with a webpage by designing software in Java and Perl
that can more invasively track their action while on a page.
For the research portion of my project, I will gather information using
the internet. I will also contact others doing work in this field
to find out in what areas improvements are particularly needed.

As for designing new software, at this point in time I cannot tell what
approach will be best. I expect that I will use Java or Perl, but
it is difficult to say until I have done the preliminary research.

As far as my plan for proceeding goes, my first steps will be to do the
research into the problem and find out as much as I can about what
technology exists today. Then I will be able to better plan out
what I need to do after that.

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