Seeking confirmation

[PerryG]

I know you can detect which browser someone is using, but can you detect the browsers previous history? I suspect the answer is "NO" (privacy issues), but I need to confirm for "he who signs paychecks."

Thanks.

Perry [sig][/sig]

 

[rycamor]

You can't directly detect a browser's previous history, beyond the "referrer" link: Most browsers give the webserver information about what URL provided the link by which they arrived at the present document. This can be logged by a webserver as "HTTP_REFERER",

Also, affiliated websites can implement a method of cookies that can be read by sister/parent sites, to provide cross-listed data about browsing habits around sites. This kind of activity is frowned on by a large segment of the web-surfing population, but is a hallmark of DoubleClick and other banner ad networks.

Beyond that you are out of luck. Even the methods I describe above are not absolute, as users can delete cookies, or disable the "referrer" data in some browsers. All client-side data should be considered tainted. [sig][/sig]