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12 Dec 05 - 08:36 AM (#1625545) Subject: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: The Fooles Troupe 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. http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/adservers/details.html 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. 247realmedia.com adcentriconline.com addynamix.com adlegend.com adserver.com adteractive.com advertising.com alena.com atdmt.com atlasdmt.com autotrader.com avenuea.com bidclix.com bluestreak.com bridgetrack.com centrport.com claria.com cossette.com dmpi.net doubleclick.com eboz.com eyeblaster.com eyereturn.com eyewonder.com factortg.com fastclick.com fjordinteractive.com insightexpress.com interpolls.com klipmart.com kliptracker.com linkbuddies.com mediaplex.com nextag.com overture.com partner2profit.com planninggroup.com poindextersystems.com pointroll.com questionmarket.com rn11.com ru4.com serving-sys.com streamexchange.com suitesmart.com trueffect.com unicast.com unitedvirtualities.com valueclick.com videobanner.com xlontech.net zedo.com Feel free to forward this to other people. Robin Hayes Author of The Fooles Troupe |
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12 Dec 05 - 09:30 AM (#1625588) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: mack/misophist There is little or no privacy on the web, except perhaps via something like Anonomizer. It's a fact of life. |
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12 Dec 05 - 02:35 PM (#1625774) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: Bill D if you have to click and reject EVERY cookie you do not want, you will have days when it seems that's all you do! I have had some sites..(like the NY Times) try to set dozens of cookies!...and they come so fast that you can't even get out before you finish reuusing them all! A decent browser (Opera or Firefox) will allow you to set rules to ease the problem...and for those who REALLY want to control what happens when you zap around the virtual universe, you must use either something like The Proxomitron, or as just mentioned, an 'anonymizing' process...which is not always successful because some sites block the known IPs of anonymizers. Proxomitron is a way of running everything you do thru a set of 'filter rules' and preventing..or allowing..certain stuff. There are other programs which do similar things..(pop-up blocking, etc)...but none as thorough. The set of filters I use..(written by an expert) has a special set of rules for Yahoo groups! Yahoo is well known for needing some watching! |
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12 Dec 05 - 03:07 PM (#1625791) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: katlaughing Thanks, Robin. BillD...I think I tried Proxomitron a few years ag and it drove me nuts/I didn't understand it. Maybe I should try it again. I love Firefox, BUT I still get pop-ups even with the latest version and activating thier blocker! |
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12 Dec 05 - 04:02 PM (#1625838) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: Stilly River Sage I used Anonymizer for a number of years, but with the various programs (firewall, popup blockers, etc.) it was hard to get Anonymizer to work the way it was supposed to. I didn't use it often, and when it expired a year ago I left it that way. It is a good program if you are serious about not being tracked and traced in your Internet browsing and posting. SRS |
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12 Dec 05 - 10:10 PM (#1626093) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: JohnInKansas Both Yahoo and AOL have been criticized frequently in recent months for "invasive" and "coercive" user agreements and "spying on the users." It also appears that the crudware people have noticed that they're a big enough target now to be worth bothering with. There have been numerous recent reports of worms crawling one or the other of them. Lots of recent crud using the "Instant Messaging" utilities of both services. It seems that people who use IM tend to keep large "buddy lists" that can be used by malware to self-propogate. A complaint recently seen fairly often is the practice of both Yahoo and AOL of "force-loading" buddies you didn't know you wanted, since being on your "buddy list" gives their ads pretty free access to your message box. A recent example of the crud, one of many and this one on AOL IM, is at AIM Worm Mimics Talking IM Bots, eWeek, By Ryan Naraine, December 7, 2005. A worm that carries on a conversation with you... before it takes over your machine. John |
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12 Dec 05 - 10:56 PM (#1626128) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: GUEST,.gargoyle You truly live up to your name Trooping Fool.
Dump your cookies. Erase your cache. Use a dynamic URL. Access from a remote. Do this on an hourly, weekly, monthly basis as needed.
Joe Offer, and the MC serverDB know more about you than Yahoo.
Sincerely, |
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12 Dec 05 - 11:40 PM (#1626163) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: Bill D kat--and others who may be interested...Proxomitron has a nice, basic set of features out of the box, and many people run it just as they get it... but it ***MUST*** be set up properly, and you must make an effort to read its menus and see what it does. It functions as a 'local proxy', which means your browser *must* be told, in the settings, that Proxo is to examine whatever comes in...this is done by entering 'localhost' as your proxy and '8080' as the port. (**see below about proxies) Once this is done, you can turn easily turn OFF (bypass) Proxo with a simple right click if you want to. Whether you ever want to depends on where you go and how detailed and complete your filters are set. Then, as I say, you can add to the default filter set by downloading some more complex and detailed sets written by experts..(I don't even try to write them--they are like math formulas...I just install them, and check and uncheck the ones *I* want to use). I guess I messed with the settings off and on for a few days...and then another few days when I found the additional sets....until I had things behaving and working like I wanted. IT WAS WORTH IT! I don't think I have changed anything in many months now. **(a proxy is what Anonymizer is, but Anonymizer is another IP, somewhere on the WWW, that you run all your surfing thru...Proxomitron is a type of proxy that lives on your own machine) There is another type of proxy, J.A.P, that is run out of Germany, which is not as secure, so far, as Anonymizer, but which will work if you want that sort of thing.) |
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13 Dec 05 - 10:11 AM (#1626351) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: Stilly River Sage BillD, You've told us about this before, but I think in not so much detail. Is this another one of your free programs, or an add-on to a particular browser? And does this work behind or in addition to a firewall and with a router in place? SRS |
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13 Dec 05 - 10:53 AM (#1626378) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: katlaughing Thanks, BillDarlin'. I'll give it another try. |
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13 Dec 05 - 12:53 PM (#1626471) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: Bill D SRS..it is simply a program you install. It is totally free, and each browser you use must be told to use it...(I have maybe 8 browsers available, 4 copies of Opera, two of Firefox, and 2 odd little browsers just for play...oh, yeah...IE is there, but 'almost' never opened))...I filter using Proxo in only 4 of them, and as I say, once it is installed, it can be DISabled instantly in the taskbar(no need to mess with browser settings). I have a firewall (Kerio 2), but so far, I don't need a router...but that would make no difference. If Proxo is installed , and your browser is told to use it, it is what comes in after going thru firewall & router that is filtered. This is not an anti-virus program, nor is it really a firewall (though it does some things which are similar)....it is a 3rd type of gadget which controls what you see and stops certain messing with your browsing...such as re-directs, pop-up ads, cookies, scripts that do things to your windows, various Google ads.etc,etc,etc....more than I can possibly explain here! (Some of those come with the 'extra' sets of filter rules I referred to earlier----one guy has written 3 levels of filters, but I only use level 2...and I don't check most of those!) A search will give you many, many pages explaining more....here is one using 'Proxomitron filters'.... This is a funny program in many ways...once you are using it, nothing 'happens' like it does when your anti-virus notices something. ....but sometimes things DON'T happen (like ads not appearing)...and, this morning, I went to a site that offered drivers for old programs, and it was blank and hung---so I turned OFF Proxo and hit 'reload', and there it was. I suspect that one of my Proxo settings was preventing a javascript from rendering the page, but since it was a trustworthy site, I was not worried. I suppose I 'could' have played around with Proxo settings till I figured out exactly which filter was working, but it was not worth it. more than you want to know? *grin*....Anyone who likes control in this silly realm of cyberspace can HAVE more control using Proxo, and it can be turned on & off as you get use to it and begin to see the differences in what happens with it on or off. It can be made VERY complex and you can spend hours studying all the filters and what they do...or you can just use a few basic tricks and control some ads and such. |
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13 Dec 05 - 03:10 PM (#1626607) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: mack/misophist The last time I looked at the Proxo web site (a long time ago) the programer was calling it "knifeware". He's crazy about a Japanese group called Shonen Knife. So if you like his program and use it, he'd like you to get at least one of their cd's. Sorta like "post cardware" or "beerware". |
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13 Dec 05 - 08:35 PM (#1626842) Subject: RE: Tech: Privacy on Yahoo, etc. From: The Fooles Troupe Garg, go take a cold shower. I have been involved in computing since the early 70's when I first took a COBOL programming course to assist me with work. I got involved with the 8008, IMSAI, etc, and a TRS80, then other tertiary level courses etc, etc, etc. I never have pretended that I know more than everybody else - I know just how little I know, strolling along the endless beach of life, picking a few interesting pebbles here and there. Just because my IQ was tested in the extreme top range, it doesn't mean that I can't learn from others who have been doing more than I in fields in which they have more relevant current experience. Only a real fool thinks he can know it all. The info I supplied was condensed from Yahoo's own info pages. If anyone notices extra domain additions, they can kindly post then here. |