Gates' daughter knew about Phia ‘Cookie Stuffing’, report cites internal chats
Internal records suggest that the startup Phia, co-founded by Phoebe Gates, was aware of unauthorized 'cookie stuffing' practices months before publicly blaming a software bug. Slack messages indicate leadership actively sought to monetize gross merchandise value through automated tracking.
Why it matters
This raises significant ethical and legal questions regarding corporate transparency and the integrity of affiliate marketing practices in the tech startup ecosystem.
Internal communications and software records at Phia, the personal shopping startup co-founded by Bill Gates daughter Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, indicate that the founders were allegedly aware of software features designed to claim unauthorised sales commissions at least seven months before the company publicly blamed the practice on a sudden “software bug.” Citing internal Slack messages and source code reviews, Bloomberg reports that the practice, which is known in the affiliate marketing industry as “cookie stuffing”, was active as early as December.The timeline contradicts a public statement issued by the company on July 8, which claimed leadership had only discovered the tracking behavior “within the last 24 hours”.Internal slack records detail ‘Auto Drop’ featuresPhia operates as a browser extension designed to help shoppers automatically find discount codes and compare prices at online checkout counters.
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