Barclays web analytics using cookies?

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Joined
30 Aug 2009
Posts
467
Here is the javascript from the bottom of the Barclays Online Banking website.

What I would like to know is if it seems to be setting a cookie?

I'd like to know this as I am planning on reporting Barclays to the ICO if Barclays don't comply with cookie legislation as of the 26th May this year.
The reason that I want to take that action is the following thread over at the Ghostery plugin discussion forum: here

Code:
var gDomain="statse.webtrendslive.com";var gDcsId="dcssxcr8i00000stlemt7jpvp_8c9t";var gFpc="WT_FPC";var gConvert=true;var gFpcDom=".barclays.co.uk";if((typeof(gConvert)!="undefined")&&gConvert&&(document.cookie.indexOf(gFpc+"=")==-1)&&(document.cookie.indexOf("WTLOPTOUT=")==-1)){document.write("<SCRIPT TYPE='text/javascript' SRC='http"+(window.location.protocol.indexOf("https:")==0?"s":"")+"://"+gDomain+"/"+gDcsId+"/wtid.js'></SCRIPT>")};
Code:
var gService=true;var gTimeZone=0;function dcsCookie(){if(typeof(dcsOther)=="function"){dcsOther()}else{if(typeof(dcsPlugin)=="function"){dcsPlugin()}else{if(typeof(dcsFPC)=="function"){dcsFPC(gTimeZone)}}}}function dcsGetCookie(b){var d=document.cookie.indexOf(b+"=");if(d!=-1){var c=d+b.length+1;var a=document.cookie.indexOf(";",c);if(a==-1){a=document.cookie.length}return unescape(document.cookie.substring(c,a))}return null}function dcsGetCrumb(d,c){var b=dcsGetCookie(d).split(":");for(var e=0;e<b.length;e++){var a=b[e].split("=");if(c==a[0]){return a[1]}}return null}function dcsGetIdCrumb(c,b){var e=dcsGetCookie(c);var f=e.substring(0,e.indexOf(":lv="));var a=f.split("=");for(var d=0;d<a.length;d++){if(b==a[0]){return a[1]}}return null}function dcsFPC(g){if(typeof(g)=="undefined"){return}if(document.cookie.indexOf("WTLOPTOUT=")!=-1){return}var a=gFpc;var l=new Date();var j=(l.getTimezoneOffset()*60000)+(g*3600000);l.setTime(l.getTime()+j);var e=new Date(l.getTime()+315360000000);var k=new Date(l.getTime());WT.co_f=WT.vt_sid=WT.vt_f=WT.vt_f_a=WT.vt_f_s=WT.vt_f_d=WT.vt_f_tlh=WT.vt_f_tlv="";if(document.cookie.indexOf(a+"=")==-1){if((typeof(gWtId)!="undefined")&&(gWtId!="")){WT.co_f=gWtId}else{if((typeof(gTempWtId)!="undefined")&&(gTempWtId!="")){WT.co_f=gTempWtId;WT.vt_f="1"}else{WT.co_f="2";var m=l.getTime().toString();for(var h=2;h<=(32-m.length);h++){WT.co_f+=Math.floor(Math.random()*16).toString(16)}WT.co_f+=m;WT.vt_f="1"}}if(typeof(gWtAccountRollup)=="undefined"){WT.vt_f_a="1"}WT.vt_f_s=WT.vt_f_d="1";WT.vt_f_tlh=WT.vt_f_tlv="0"}else{var b=dcsGetIdCrumb(a,"id");var d=parseInt(dcsGetCrumb(a,"lv"));var n=parseInt(dcsGetCrumb(a,"ss"));if((b==null)||(b=="null")||isNaN(d)||isNaN(n)){return}WT.co_f=b;var f=new Date(d);WT.vt_f_tlh=Math.floor((f.getTime()-j)/1000);k.setTime(n);if((l.getTime()>(f.getTime()+1800000))||(l.getTime()>(k.getTime()+28800000))){WT.vt_f_tlv=Math.floor((k.getTime()-j)/1000);k.setTime(l.getTime());WT.vt_f_s="1"}if((l.getDay()!=f.getDay())||(l.getMonth()!=f.getMonth())||(l.getYear()!=f.getYear())){WT.vt_f_d="1"}}WT.co_f=escape(WT.co_f);WT.vt_sid=WT.co_f+"."+(k.getTime()-j);var c="; expires="+e.toGMTString();document.cookie=a+"=id="+WT.co_f+":lv="+l.getTime().toString()+":ss="+k.getTime().toString()+c+"; path=/"+(((typeof(gFpcDom)!="undefined")&&(gFpcDom!=""))?("; domain="+gFpcDom):(""));if(document.cookie.indexOf(a+"=")==-1){WT.co_f=WT.vt_sid=WT.vt_f_s=WT.vt_f_d=WT.vt_f_tlh=WT.vt_f_tlv="";WT.vt_f=WT.vt_f_a="2"}}function dcsMultiTrack(){if(arguments.length%2==0){for(var b=0;b<arguments.length;b+=2){if(arguments[b].indexOf("WT.")==0){WT[arguments[b].substring(3)]=arguments[b+1]}else{if(arguments[b].indexOf("DCS.")==0){DCS[arguments[b].substring(4)]=arguments[b+1]}else{if(arguments[b].indexOf("DCSext.")==0){DCSext[arguments[b].substring(7)]=arguments[b+1]}}}}var a=new Date();DCS.dcsdat=a.getTime();dcsFunc("dcsCookie");dcsTag()}}function dcsAdv(){dcsFunc("dcsET");dcsFunc("dcsCookie");dcsFunc("dcsAdSearch");dcsFunc("dcsTP")}var gImages=new Array;var gIndex=0;var DCS=new Object();if(typeof(WT)=="undefined"){var WT=new Object()}var DCSext=new Object();var gQP=new Array();var gI18n=false;if(window.RegExp){var RE={"%09":/\t/g,"%20":/ /g,"%23":/\#/g,"%26":/\&/g,"%2B":/\+/g,"%3F":/\?/g,"%5C":/\\/g,"%22":/\"/g,"%7F":/\x7F/g,"%A0":/\xA0/g};var I18NRE={"%25":/\%/g}}function dcsVar(){var b=new Date();WT.tz=b.getTimezoneOffset()/60*-1;if(WT.tz==0){WT.tz="0"}WT.bh=b.getHours();WT.ul=navigator.appName=="Netscape"?navigator.language:navigator.userLanguage;if(typeof(screen)=="object"){WT.cd=navigator.appName=="Netscape"?screen.pixelDepth:screen.colorDepth;WT.sr=screen.width+"x"+screen.height}if(typeof(navigator.javaEnabled())=="boolean"){WT.jo=navigator.javaEnabled()?"Yes":"No"}if(document.title){WT.ti=gI18n?dcsEscape(dcsEncode(document.title),I18NRE):document.title}WT.js="Yes";WT.jv=dcsJV();if(document.body&&document.body.addBehavior){document.body.addBehavior("#default#clientCaps");WT.ct=document.body.connectionType||"unknown";document.body.addBehavior("#default#homePage");WT.hp=document.body.isHomePage(location.href)?"1":"0"}else{WT.ct="unknown"}if(parseInt(navigator.appVersion)>3){if((navigator.appName=="Microsoft Internet Explorer")&&document.body){WT.bs=document.body.offsetWidth+"x"+document.body.offsetHeight}else{if(navigator.appName=="Netscape"){WT.bs=window.innerWidth+"x"+window.innerHeight}}}WT.fi="No";if(window.ActiveXObject){for(var d=10;d>0;d--){try{var c=new ActiveXObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash."+d);WT.fi="Yes";WT.fv=d+".0";break}catch(g){}}}else{if(navigator.plugins&&navigator.plugins.length){for(var d=0;d<navigator.plugins.length;d++){if(navigator.plugins[d].name.indexOf("Shockwave Flash")!=-1){WT.fi="Yes";WT.fv=navigator.plugins[d].description.split(" ")[2];break}}}}if(gI18n){WT.em=(typeof(encodeURIComponent)=="function")?"uri":"esc";if(typeof(document.defaultCharset)=="string"){WT.le=document.defaultCharset}else{if(typeof(document.characterSet)=="string"){WT.le=document.characterSet}}}WT.tv="8.0.2";DCS.dcsdat=b.getTime();DCS.dcssip=window.location.hostname;DCS.dcsuri=window.location.pathname;if(window.location.search){DCS.dcsqry=window.location.search;if(gQP.length>0){for(var d=0;d<gQP.length;d++){var h=DCS.dcsqry.indexOf(gQP[d]);if(h!=-1){var f=DCS.dcsqry.substring(0,h);var a=DCS.dcsqry.substring(h+gQP[d].length,DCS.dcsqry.length);DCS.dcsqry=f+a}}}}if((window.document.referrer!="")&&(window.document.referrer!="-")){if(!(navigator.appName=="Microsoft Internet Explorer"&&parseInt(navigator.appVersion)<4)){DCS.dcsref=gI18n?dcsEscape(window.document.referrer,I18NRE):window.document.referrer}}}function dcsA(b,a){return"&"+b+"="+dcsEscape(a,RE)}function dcsEscape(a,d){if(typeof(d)!="undefined"){var c=new String(a);for(var b in d){c=c.replace(d[b],b)}return c}else{return escape(a)}}function dcsEncode(a){return(typeof(encodeURIComponent)=="function")?encodeURIComponent(a):escape(a)}function dcsCreateImage(a){if(document.images){gImages[gIndex]=new Image;gImages[gIndex].src=a;gIndex++}else{document.write('<IMG ALT="" BORDER="0" NAME="DCSIMG" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" SRC="'+a+'">')}}function dcsMeta(){var a;if(document.all){a=document.all.tags("meta")}else{if(document.documentElement){a=document.getElementsByTagName("meta")}}if(typeof(a)!="undefined"){for(var b=1;b<=a.length;b++){var c=a.item(b-1);if(c.name){if(c.name.indexOf("WT.")==0){WT[c.name.substring(3)]=(gI18n&&(c.name.indexOf("WT.ti")==0))?dcsEscape(dcsEncode(c.content),I18NRE):c.content}else{if(c.name.indexOf("DCSext.")==0){DCSext[c.name.substring(7)]=c.content}else{if(c.name.indexOf("DCS.")==0){DCS[c.name.substring(4)]=(gI18n&&(c.name.indexOf("DCS.dcsref")==0))?dcsEscape(c.content,I18NRE):c.content}}}}}}}function dcsTag(){if(document.cookie.indexOf("WTLOPTOUT=")!=-1){return}var a="http"+(window.location.protocol.indexOf("https:")==0?"s":"")+"://"+gDomain+(gDcsId==""?"":"/"+gDcsId)+"/dcs.gif?";for(var b in DCS){if(DCS[b]){a+=dcsA(b,DCS[b])}}for(b in WT){if(WT[b]){a+=dcsA("WT."+b,WT[b])}}for(b in DCSext){if(DCSext[b]){a+=dcsA(b,DCSext[b])}}if(a.length>2048&&navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE")>=0){a=a.substring(0,2040)+"&WT.tu=1"}dcsCreateImage(a)}function dcsJV(){var h=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();var s=parseInt(navigator.appVersion);var f=(h.indexOf("mac")!=-1);var n=(h.indexOf("firefox")!=-1);var c=(h.indexOf("firefox/0.")!=-1);var i=(h.indexOf("firefox/1.0")!=-1);var d=(h.indexOf("firefox/1.5")!=-1);var g=(n&&!c&&!i&!d);var b=(!n&&(h.indexOf("mozilla")!=-1)&&(h.indexOf("compatible")==-1));var e=(b&&(s==4));var p=(b&&(s>=5));var r=((h.indexOf("msie")!=-1)&&(h.indexOf("opera")==-1));var j=(r&&(s==4)&&(h.indexOf("msie 4")!=-1));var q=(r&&!j);var m=(h.indexOf("opera")!=-1);var l=(h.indexOf("opera 5")!=-1||h.indexOf("opera/5")!=-1);var k=(h.indexOf("opera 6")!=-1||h.indexOf("opera/6")!=-1);var a=(m&&!l&&!k);var o="1.1";if(g){o="1.7"}else{if(d){o="1.6"}else{if(c||i||p||a){o="1.5"}else{if((f&&q)||k){o="1.4"}else{if(q||e||l){o="1.3"}else{if(j){o="1.2"}}}}}}return o}function dcsFunc(a){if(typeof(window[a])=="function"){window[a]()}}dcsVar();dcsMeta();dcsFunc("dcsAdv");dcsTag();
Code:
WT=new Object();DCS=new Object();DCSext=new Object();function dcsAjax(){var a=$("#_wt");if(a.length){var d=a.metadata(),e,b;for(b in d){e=d[b];if(b.indexOf("WT.")==0){WT[b.substring(3)]=(gI18n&&(b.indexOf("WT.ti")==0))?dcsEscape(dcsEncode(e),I18NRE):e}else{if(b.indexOf("DCSext.")==0){DCSext[b.substring(7)]=e}else{if(b.indexOf("DCS.")==0){DCS[b.substring(4)]=(gI18n&&(b.indexOf("DCS.dcsref")==0))?dcsEscape(e,I18NRE):e}}}}DCS.dcssip=window.location.hostname;if(_wt.dcsurl!==undefined&&_wt.dcsurl!==""){$.url.setUrl(_wt.dcsurl);var c=$.url.attr("query");if(c!==null){c="?"+c}DCS.dcsqry=c;DCS.dcsuri=$.url.attr("path");if(DCS.dcsuri===""){DCS.dcsuri=_wt.dcsurl}}if(_wt.dcsref===undefined||_wt.dcsref===""){DCS.dcsref=window.location.href}else{DCS.dcsref=_wt.dcsref}a.remove()}}function dcsPageComplete(){dcsVar();dcsAjax();dcsFunc("dcsAdv");dcsTag()};
Code:
iBarclays.WebAnalytics=(function(){function d(){b("DCS.dcsuri","TaskView/ModuleMenu","DCSext.TaskView-AccountManagement","ModuleMenu","WT.dl","11","WT.seg_1","Editor")}function f(){b("DCS.dcsuri","TaskView/ModuleMenu","DCSext.TaskView-AccountManagement","ModuleMenu","WT.dl","11","WT.seg_1","Editor")}function e(i,j){j=$.trim(j);b("DCS.dcsuri","TaskView/Modules","WT.seg_1","Editor","DCSext.ModuleAdded",j)}function h(i,j){j=$.trim(j);b("DCS.dcsuri","TaskView/Modules","WT.seg_1","Editor","DCSext.ModuleRemoved",j)}function c(){var j=$("meta[name=WT.dcsvid]").attr("content");var i=$("meta[name=WT.seg_2]").attr("content");dcsMultiTrack("DCS.dcsuri","Accounts/See Statements","WT.dcsvid",j,"WT.seg_2",i,"WT.ti","","WT.seg_1","Money Manager","DCSext.StatementsView","eStatements")}function b(){var k,j;if(arguments.length%2==0){for(k=0;k<arguments.length;k+=2){if(arguments[k].indexOf("WT.")==0){WT[arguments[k].substring(3)]=arguments[k+1]}else{if(arguments[k].indexOf("DCS.")==0){DCS[arguments[k].substring(4)]=arguments[k+1]}else{if(arguments[k].indexOf("DCSext.")==0){DCSext[arguments[k].substring(7)]=arguments[k+1]}}}}WT.dcsvid=$("meta[name=WT.dcsvid]").attr("content");WT.seg_2=$("meta[name=WT.seg_2]").attr("content");j=new Date();DCS.dcsdat=j.getTime();dcsFunc("dcsCookie");dcsTag();WT=new Object();DCS=new Object();DCSext=new Object()}}function a(){WT={};DCS={};DCSext={};dcsPageComplete()}function g(){$(document).bind("modal.open.complete.webtrends",a);$(document).bind("takeover.open.complete.webtrends",a);$(document).bind("modal.open.complete.webtrends",iBarclays.TouchClarity.log);$(document).bind("takeover.open.complete.webtrends",iBarclays.TouchClarity.log);$(document).bind("drawer.opened",d);$(document).bind("drawer.closed",f);$(document).bind("module.opened",e);$(document).bind("module.closed",h);$(document).bind("pdf.download.webtrends",c)}$(g)})();
 
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I wouldn't believe that if I were you.

The ICO have already published their guidelines that 'explicit consent' is required, and that implied consent is not enough.

You may want to try reading the following article as they seem to be going after high traffic sites that aren't doing anything to comply with the new law:
http://www.cookielaw.org/blog/2012/4/4/cookie-law-update-from-the-ico.aspx
 
Last edited:
I think a lot of sites will simply stop you using the site if you "opt out".

I really don't understand why people get hung-up about being "tracked". You are not being tracked personally. It's just so sites get statistical analytic's of the sites usage.

Virtually every large website in the world will us Google Analytic's for example. It doesn't ever log anything personal to you, just what browser you're using, your OS etc etc.

I already opt out, through my use of numerous browser plugins. My annoyance with Barclays is that they have purposefully made it impossible to opt out. A website should still work correctly if you opt out of analytics tracking.

This should be a browser option. Then when people realise major parts of their Internet experience are missing due to their decisions they will feel slightly differently about their user experience being measured ultimately to improve it in the future.
It already is. It's called the do not track header.
 
I thought we were talking about the third party element? The do not track header doesn't solve all of the ICO regs does it?

I don't think that it addresses any of them. The law is about cookies. Do-Not-Track is a technology to be opted into by tracking cookies to abide by someone's browser privacy settings. In the end it will be like robots.txt, I guess, where the bad guys exploit, or ignore, it.

Although they are supplied by third party they are considered first party cookies as the information is only shared with the owners of the specific website that have set up the analytics (in this case Barclays).

The main thing that ICO has been set up to combat are cookies which track your behaviour and content preferences over a number of different websites without your knowledge. Google and Facebook do a lot of this as far as I am aware.

You're making the assumption that the analytics data isn't shared, although webtrends seems to be linked to their domain, whereas the Omniture script seems to be hosted by Barclays. I have found that these scripts don't matter on the mobile website, but that is pretty much functionless.

You're right that the ICO will focus on those sites that seem to be doing the most harm.
 
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