The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #87179 Message #1625545
Posted By: The Fooles Troupe
12-Dec-05 - 08:36 AM
Thread Name: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc.
Subject: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc.
TECH: Privacy on Yahoo, etc.
Yahoo is now using something called "Web Beacons" to track Yahoo Group users around the net and see what you're doing and where you are going similar to cookies. Yahoo is recording every website and every group you visit. Take a look at their updated privacy statement: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy
About half-way down the page, in the section on cookies, you will see a link that says web beacons. Click on the phrase web beacons. That will bring you to a paragraph entitled "Outside the Yahoo Network."
In this section you'll see a little "click here to opt out" link that will let you "opt-out" of their new method of snooping.
Once you have clicked that link, you are exempted. Notice the "Success" message on the top of the next page. Be careful because on that page there is a "Cancel Opt-out" button that, if clicked, will **undo** the opt-out. This opt-out applies to a specific browser rather than a specific user, therefore you will have to opt-out separately from each computer or browser that you use.
Most advertisements you see on the Yahoo! network of web sites are served to your web browser by Yahoo!. However, we also allow other companies, called ad networks, to serve advertisements within our web pages. Ad networks include third party ad servers, ad agencies, ad technology vendors and research firms.
Certain ad networks and Yahoo! affiliates use Third Party Cookies on the Yahoo! network of web sites as described below.
Yahoo! may also include a file, called a web beacon, from these ad networks within pages served by Yahoo! so the networks may provide auditing, research and reporting for advertisers, that allows a web site to count users who have visited that page or to access certain cookies. http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/beacons/details.html
If you want to block these in MSIE, you can set the Privacy Cookies Setting to ask before accepting each new cookie, or use the edit button to add the following, one at a time and block each one. Some domains, such as doubleclick, I had set already, as well as the .net & .co.uk variants. Adding one from this list if it is already set will do no harm. Use the appropriate similar process for other browsers.