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Computer Tracking Cookies

T

trickydicky

In the last 48 hours I have only logged on to 2 websites,this forum and Swiftalk.My computer antivirus has picked up 68 of these tracking cookies,which Im told are used by companies to find out your interests by monitoring your every word.
So if I type in the word "giraffe" I will probably get an invitation to the local zoo,or a discounted holiday in Africa.
Big brother is out there.
smiley-cool.gif

R
 
tricky dicky said:
tracking cookies,which Im told are used by companies to find out your interests by monitoring your every word.
Click to expand...
Rubbish, please Google 'Cookie' & read some of the sensible links before publishing alarmist rubbish.
 
I don't know what your antivirus is picking up but it is highly unlikely to be cookies generated by just two internet forums.

Have a look at the Haymarket Privacy Policy for an explanation about information used by this website to enable members to get the most from the site.
Your Online Choices will provide detailed information about cookies etc for those who are worried about (non existent) 'Big Brother' activity and Haymarket have nothing to hide and don't employ such tactics.
Your Online Choices will show what cookies from all sources are active on your computer and offer the option to disable them if you wish to do so but if you do this you may experience difficulty logging on to websites that you regularly use.
 
I have done what you said,and this is from Yahoo Answers
Third-party persistent cookies — These are permanent cookies that are stored permanently, they will be retained either until their requested expiration date and time, or until they are manually deleted through some user action. These are the worst of all cookies since they are typically planted into a user's browser without the user's knowledge, permission, or expectation, after which time they can — and are — used to track users across the Internet compiling profiles of sites visited, search queries used, and collecting all manner of personal and private information.
I appreciate that these cookies are in the web browser.Mozilla or Internet Explorer ( My apologies to Practical Caravan)
If this isn't an invasion of privacy,what is?
Now you may think this is fine,but I don't.
 
I use Mozilla Firefox and have it set to delete cookies when I turn the computer off. I still get some feedback from my AV/AS software and from Rapport which monitors my logins and passwords, but with deleting them every time I switch off I have not encountered any problems logging onto previous or new web sites.
 
I'm not too up on all this computer stuff (that's the understatement of the year!! lol
smiley-embarassed.gif
), but if you delete your cookies, doesn't it delete all your passwords etc? I have various different passwords I use for different things, but am terrible at remembering them all (and of course you're not supposed to write them down!!), so if I delete my cookies I have an awful job trying to remember the correct password for each site.
 
tricky dicky said:
I have done what you said,and this is from Yahoo Answers
Third-party persistent cookies — These are permanent cookies that are stored permanently, they will be retained either until their requested expiration date and time, or until they are manually deleted through some user action. These are the worst of all cookies since they are typically planted into a user's browser without the user's knowledge, permission, or expectation, after which time they can — and are — used to track users across the Internet compiling profiles of sites visited, search queries used, and collecting all manner of personal and private information.
I appreciate that these cookies are in the web browser.Mozilla or Internet Explorer ( My apologies to Practical Caravan)
If this isn't an invasion of privacy,what is?
Now you may think this is fine,but I don't.
Click to expand...

Most websites and internet web browsers supply terms and conditions and when you first sign up a tick box is displayed with which it's possible to accept / not accept these T&C's.
Most of us, myself inclded, blithely tick 'accept' in order to gain access to the service or website that we wish to use and we never read the box containing the small print which would inform the user that cookies are part of the deal.
It's possible to disable cookies by clicking on Tools > Options > Privacy and as Clive mentioned Firefox users can automatically disable cookies when a browsing session is ended, not many of us remember to manually clear cookies out from the computer regularly.
There is absolutely no privacy on the internet, never has been and never will be because the entire system relies on data and memory and it's geared up to collect this data whether we like it or not.
If an internet user doesn't want the world and his wife to be able to find out what they are doing, when they do it and who they do it with then it would be better if they didn't use the internet at all because their non existent 'privacy' is invaded every single time that they log on.
 
Soozeeg said:
I'm not too up on all this computer stuff (that's the understatement of the year!! lol
smiley-embarassed.gif
), but if you delete your cookies, doesn't it delete all your passwords etc? I have various different passwords I use for different things, but am terrible at remembering them all (and of course you're not supposed to write them down!!), so if I delete my cookies I have an awful job trying to remember the correct password for each site.
Click to expand...
I use Firefox which seems to work quite well on the sites that I use ( no, not those sites Sue
smiley-innocent.gif
)
Firefox uses 'Skipper' to remember log ins etc

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Remembering passwords
Other web browsers will have their own systems, Google 'remembering passwords' and a list will be shown. These are also 'cookies' though (although not third party cookies which track your general browsing habits)
You should also block 'pop ups' if you haven't done this already.
 
I don't have any pop-ups, so I must have done something right in the past (even if it was by mistake! lol). I use IE, I'm extremely wary of trying any other browsers as something always seems to go wrong every time I try and download/install anything new, which then panics the life out of me because I never know what's gone wrong or how to get out of it. All this cookies stuff confuses the hell out of my little blonde cells, so I think I'll just continue bumbling along in my blissfully unaware way, and trust that my AV stuff is doing it's job. I do actually do fairly regular scans and the AV has only rarely shown a virus, which it then swiftly deals with (thankfully, all by itself without me having to do anything). The one thing I am sufficiently on the ball about is regularly re-checking my privacy and account settings on Facebook, which I use quite a lot. Facebook have a habit of moving the goal posts, changing their (and your!) settings and introducing new stuff, all without publicizing it and thus without your knowledge. So I try to remember to check it all weekly. I also rarely (if ever) click on anything on there if I don't know what it is, even if it's something that a friend has introduced, as stuff on there frequently contains viruses.
 
If there's anything that you want to know about in IE click on Help at the top right of the browser window then choose the first option 'Help with internet explorer' and you can find answers about privacy and security settings.
As you will know Sue, I rarely use Facebook and only allow access to people known to me. My computer protection software allows me to open links in what it calls a 'sandbox' which would contain, restrict and destroy any hidden nasties, I rarely open links though.
 
Many companies use "tracking cookies" or "Spyware" as it is better known to determine your viewing content and then target you with marketing adverts. Why do you think adverts for a site you have recently visited keep popping up on other sites, Yes it is an invasion of privacy. I use Adaware to kill off these spyware cookies. You can also use "Explore" to delete cookies that have no relevance to the sites that you regularloy visit or log into.
 
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