If you allow cookies/script then you essentially have
a tracking collar. Companies like Google/Doubleclick
are tracking you around the Web. If you have a Microsoft
LiveID they can track you around the Web. If you have
any toolbars installed in IE, those can track you around
the Web. Using the Address Bar as search is a sneaky
way to track you around the Web. Allowing IE or Firefox
to "warn you about risky sites" is just another trick to
track you around the Web.
Most websites are getting ads from large ad servers.
Google/Doubleclick is on just about any site that has
ads. That means they can use the ads as web beacons
to track you around the Web. They make a big noise
about how the data is "anonymized", but the simple fact
is that they're spying on you alomst wherever you go online.
To respect your privacy means to hurt their own business.
This is nothing new. If you use a cellphone you're also
being followed around physically. Advertising companies
are salivating over the possibilities of showing you
targetted ads on a constant basis, so that researching
cars online might get you ads for auto insurance, for instance,
for instance, while texting a friend about pizza might get
you a spam coupon on your cellphone for 20% off Alka Seltzer
at the drugstore you're currently walking past.
You may just be seeing a change in behavior on the part
of ad companies. They've been wary of scaring people off
by letting them know just how much they're being spied on,
so they're proceeding cautiously.
There's no simple answer. If you don't want to be tracked
online you need to block 3rd-party ads, script and cookies.
Most people don't want to do that because it interferes
with shopping and social network sites. That's your choice.
If you want to mitigate the intrusion, one simple improvement
is to use a HOSTS file and block Google/Doubleclick ad URLs and
Google Analytics. That will eliminate most ads and thereby most
tracking. (Some people might say it's wrong to block ads. But
using a HOSTS file doesn't block ads. It only blocks files from
websites that you never willingly agreed to visit in the first place.)
Mozilla browsers also have a semi-hidden setting to block all
3rd-party files, but Mozilla is funded mainly by Google, so they've
removed that option from the Firefox settings and made a notable
effort to confuse anyone who wants to use it via about
:config.
See here for more info:
http://www.jsware.net/jsware/cook.php5
Note that on Vista/7 you need to log on as Admin and give
yourself permission to edit the HOSTS file.
Beyond that, don't use IE and don't enable any "helpful"
browser features in any browser. (Firefox's functionality
to warn you about "attack sites" sends each visited URL
to Google.) The reasons to avoid IE are complex and numerous.
It's partly because IE is deeply linked into the system and
is designed to be controlled by others. (It's made to allow
corporate system admins to control employee behavior.)
Another reason is that IE settings are *extremely*
convoluted. Just controlling script settings turns into a
hobby, while the noScript add-on for firefox allows fairly
easy control over script.
--
--
"Tony Vella" <> wrote in message
news:...
|I am using IE9 on a Vista machine.
|
| There is something going on that was first a bother and is now a worry.
I
| went to a business-card printing site to check their pricing and within a
| couple of hours every website I open has business card printing
| advertisments on it. I went to a security camera site to check their
| pricing and within a couple of hours every page I open has security camera
| advertisments on it. It was a bother, now it's a worry.
|
| What the hell is going on? Is there a way I can stop it? I was thinking
| about checking the prices of a particular model of car and I have resisted
| for a couple of days just, at least, until someone tells me what or if
there
| is anything I can do about this.
|
| Thanks in advance for all help.
| --
| Tony Vella
| Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
|
http://www.amedialuz.ca
|
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