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342 CHAPTER 12 Automated data collection methods

FIGURE 12.7
Firefox proxy configuration dialog for the web browser: the computer at address 127.0.0.1
will act as a proxy server on port 80.

- 127.0.0.1 - - [26/Sep/2007:10:22:19 -0400] "GET http://triton.towson.edu/~hhochhei/ HTTP/1.1" 304 -
- 127.0.0.1 - - [26/Sep/2007:10:22:19 -0400] "GET http://triton.towson.edu/~hhochhei/hhstyle.css HTTP/1.1" 304 -
- 127.0.0.1 - - [26/Sep/2007:10:22:19 -0400] "GET http://triton.towson.edu/~hhochhei/hh.jpg HTTP/1.1" 304 -
- 127.0.0.1 - - [26/Sep/2007:10:22:19 -0400] "GET http://triton.towson.edu/~hhochhei/towson-header.gif HTTP/1.1" 304 -
- 127.0.0.1 - - [26/Sep/2007:10:22:19 -0400] "GET http://triton.towson.edu/~hhochhei/arrow.gif HTTP/1.1" 304 –
FIGURE 12.8
Log entries from a proxy server. Note that each request contains a full URL for a web
resource, as opposed to a local path, as in Figure 12.2.

requests from all users—capturing information on the use of many web sites not con-
trolled by the team managing the proxy and collecting the data. Since proxy access
is configured through the browsers or routers, users might not even be aware that the
proxy use—or the data collection—is happening.
Although this information can be used to provide a rich picture of user browsing
habits over time, care and discretion should be used when studying this data. As us-
ers may forget that they are using a proxy that logs their requests, they might visit