Friday, July 29, 2011

Hulu Halts Use Of Kissmetrics On Security Report

A report, published Friday by Wired, says that Los Angeles-based video streaming site Hulu has cut its use of web analytics service Kissmetrics -- a startup founded by former Orange County entrepreneur Neil Patel -- after U.C. Berkeley security researchers detected the use of undetectable cookie code by Kissmetrics. The report from Wired said that those researchers found that Kissmetrics tracking service cannot be evaded, even when users block their cookies, turn off storage in Flash, or use "incognito mode" in a browser. Kissmetrics, via co-founder Hiten Shah, told Wired that "nothing illegal" about the techniques it was using. Patel and Shah both have ties to Orange County, where they co-founded visual heatmap tracking firm CrazyEgg. Patel is now in Seattle, and Shah in San Francisco.