How To Stop Yahoo from TRACKING YOU

[lowzeewee]

Got this while on another site could been interesting to some people..... :O

As you all know, Yahoo! upgraded its features and the capacities of the mail accounts have grown to 250 MB. That's good for sure, but the "monitoring" methods that we all have been far too familiar with in the last couple of years have been renewed with this move also. Yahoo! is now keeping track of which sites its members that are getting into groups or using Yahoo! services are visiting and storing this data with a method called "Web Beacons". The aim is to give these statistics to the partner companies arranged by agreement and to improve the "advertisement guiding" function.

However, those who are bothered by this and do not want to be kept track of have still a choice. Yahoo! has hidden this option way deep inside somewhere but I'm declaring it here in case there are people who want it anyway:

1. Go to the address http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy and click the "Cookies" link under the "Special Topics" column.

2. Click the "Web Beacons" link under the "Reference Links" Column.

3. On this page, click the "click here to opt out" link toward the end of the third paragraph in the middle page under the "Outside the Yahoo! Network" title.

4. After a while, a page that says you have been out of the monitoring program will load. Without doing anything, close that page or continue your usual surfing by typing another address in the address bar. (Do NOT click the "Cancel Opt-out" button, your action will be cancelled!)

5. You're done! Now Yahoo! will not record what you're doing during surfing.

You can still let your friends know that it might be interested to know about this; since no matter how "innocent" it may seem,

it's still a ~ Violation Of Privacy. ~

[Andrew]

Thanks for the heads up. Must be IP address sensitive?

[erjin999]

Meaning ?

If it uses cookies to track you, does your IP matter ?

Its using cookies to track you, not your IP, me thinks.

[Andrew]

But how does yahoo know to place a cookie on my computer or not? It would have to check my ip to see if I am a new/current user, or if I am a user who has opted out of using cookies.

Unless it placed a cookie on my computer to tell its' sites to not use cookies on my computer.

[Kiyouta]

Note: 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.

Looks like it. They must place a cookie on your computer which tells sites not to record usage, as Andrew said.

[Andrew]

So if I clear my cookies, which I do on a monthly basis... I will have to opt out again?

Terrible privacy policy.

[erjin999]

Or everytime you log in it re-sets the "Dont-Track" cookie, just as it would re-set the "Track-this-idiot" cookie. Sounds simple enough.

Fed2k uses at least 2 cookies (or maybe I shuld say SMF uses 2 cookies). They are set if they do not already exist when I log in. So it is pretty common thing to do I would guess.

Lets try applying some logic here  :P  ;)

[Andrew]

But I don't use Yahoo, and I don't login to any of their services. So it wont remember me by me logging in, as I don't.

[erjin999]

So then you would get rid of cookies that track you as you would in the normal way, which by the sound of it..

So if I clear my cookies, which I do on a monthly basis...

...you already do, there is no problem.  8)

[ps501]

I also think that gmail is also tracking you as well, but going one step further.  I think it was in their 10K filing, something along the lines that they would "scan" your incoming e-mail and based on key words give you advertisement links to products that fit into the scan.  (IE if you get an e-mail that says "you need to BUY a Television" perhaps the words buy and television would trigger a best buy ad)  I don't know if this is functional yet, but who knows. 

[Andrew]

They do scan the emails so they can give me targeted text ads. Otherwise if they don't scan the email it would be impossible to give targeted ads. Thought that was public?

[rigel6669]

Maybe this yahoo tracking device is causing the junk/virus mails ( spoof )

http://www.dune2k.com/forum/index.php?topic=15769.msg261748#msg261748

Disabling the tracker might solve the spoof problem

[gryphon]

on a side not. . cookies or not. . any webserver is perfectly capable of tracking individual users based on cookies, IP, browser ID URL refery, computer ID or a combination of both. If they  want to they can log whatever you do even without cookies or if you delete your cookies on a regular base.

[erjin999]

IP is not ideal, as many users IPs change. Browser ID ? Same for millions of people, no ?

The only thing that I am aware of that would be useful is the cookies, possibly IP and the extension of the IP, the name of which I have forgotten, but looks like: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx-ISP.Name.inaddr.arpa or some thing like that. Totally forgotten the name of that.

Anyway, I just go out to different webcafes, always dressed differently, at different times of the day. I have a fake nose, 'tash and sunglasses. I always pay by credit card  ;)

Thought that was public?

So did I. Thats what it was all about a little while ago, all the noise about watching you and everything.  ???

[gryphon]

IP is not ideal, as many users IPs change. Browser ID ? Same for millions of people, no ?

No ;)

If you look at the amount of hits a website get you can easy get statistics just on browser ID and referee. remember that your bookmarks give info about you to.

And statistics are not generated with people like you. . with strange raincotes in internet hotspots. . they are for the average Yo at home. Who most of the time doesn't use more then 3 / 4 PC's a week [ if they even have 3 ]. You can easy make statistics for them just by URL referee, IP and browser ID. No need for kookies. :)

[Kiyouta]

Track me! Bring on teh cookies!! People would be sicked and never speak to me again if they knew the sites I've visited... :-[

But I'm against the perverted Fed2k Google Ads. Seriously I prefer X10 mini-cam popups to the crap that gets displayed from them.

[erjin999]

Hey, its just a way for them to generate some needed money for fed2k...

[Kiyouta]

Yeh I know, but who could pass for a little quick game of 'Shoot the Duck' from time to time ;)