Guest Sarah Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 I don't like being spied on and having my behavior recorded, even if my name is not attached, which, to tell you the truth, I'm pretty dubious about. I've been watching what cookies are getting set by having firefox ask each time a cookie gets put on. People have suggested things like host files and other approaches. But there is just no way to get by on the internet without letting very large companies monitor you all they want. Ebay will not work if you do not accept cookies. You can click the 10 or 11 times to approve cookies each time you click a link in Ebay. But if you refuse one, Ebay stops working. You either let them install whatever cookies they want, or don't use Ebay. Google bought Doubleclick, the worst of the companies, with a history of selling tracking information linked to real identities with social security numbers, and so on. What is the chance Ebay will stop Doubleclick from insiduously inserting itself on our machines whether we like it or not? Is the alternative to refuse to use Google? On the one hand we'll have people looking for ways to stop cookies and invasion of privace with meager tools and political movements, and on the other hand have Google and other companies throwing their multi- million dollar IT development departments at harvesting us like wheat, and multi-billions at buying the rights to the airwaves, or whatever is the equivalent in the digital age. Money corrupts. Money talks.
Guest Sarah Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seems hopeless. Actually, since the government subpoenaed private record of users' searches on Google, I guess Google does not store data about us anonymously, it is linked to our identities. I wonder if they sell it like that.
Guest Robin T Cox Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookiesseems hopeless. Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookiesseems hopeless. On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:30:20 -0700, Sarah wrote: > I've been watching what cookies are getting set by having firefox ask > each time a cookie gets put on. Here's a useful article by SpywareInfo that explains how cookies work, and what to do about them. http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/cookies/
Guest The Natural Philosopher Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seemshopeless. Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seemshopeless. Sarah wrote: > I don't like being spied on and having my behavior recorded, even if > my name is not attached, which, to tell you the truth, I'm pretty > dubious about. > > I've been watching what cookies are getting set by having firefox ask > each time a cookie gets put on. People have suggested things like host > files and other approaches. > > But there is just no way to get by on the internet without letting > very large companies monitor you all they want. > Well thats because its not possible to maintain states through multiple instances of a browser-to-site transaction - like shopping online - without using a cookie. For better or worse the moment a page load is finished, so is your physical session with the server. Even if you anted to enntirely NOT pry into a users computer, you cannot carry any information about who he is forward through multiple access - like filing a shopping basket - without using cookies. > Ebay will not work if you do not accept cookies. You can click the 10 > or 11 times to approve cookies each time you click a link in Ebay. But > if you refuse one, Ebay stops working. You either let them install > whatever cookies they want, or don't use Ebay. > > Google bought Doubleclick, the worst of the companies, with a history > of selling tracking information linked to real identities with social > security numbers, and so on. What is the chance Ebay will stop > Doubleclick from insiduously inserting itself on our machines whether > we like it or not? Is the alternative to refuse to use Google? > > On the one hand we'll have people looking for ways to stop cookies and > invasion of privace with meager tools and political movements, and on > the other hand have Google and other companies throwing their multi- > million dollar IT development departments at harvesting us like wheat, > and multi-billions at buying the rights to the airwaves, or whatever > is the equivalent in the digital age. > > Money corrupts. Money talks. > Er actually no. There is no way to MAKE ebay work with the HTTP protocol WITHOUT using cookies.
Guest Opinicus Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seems hopeless. "Sarah" <sarah_sonderson@hotmail.com> wrote > Google bought Doubleclick, the worst of the companies, with a history > of selling tracking information linked to real identities with social > security numbers, and so on. What is the chance Ebay will stop > Doubleclick from insiduously inserting itself on our machines whether > we like it or not? Is the alternative to refuse to use Google? I have *.doubleclick.com, *.double-click.com, and *.doubleclick.net all in my IE "Restricted Sites" zone (I just checked) and I don't have any trouble whatsoever using either Google or eBay. -- Bob http://www.kanyak.com
Guest Gretch Posted August 14, 2007 Posted August 14, 2007 Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seems hopeless. In news:1187004725.12900.0@iris.uk.clara.net, The Natural Philosopher <a@b.c> wrote: > For better or worse the moment a page load is finished, so is your > physical session with the server. You might wish to review the Firefox/Mozilla definition of "session" wrt cookies ... one opens a browser process to start a "session", and a "session" is ended when the browser pid, including all children, is terminated.
Guest The Natural Philosopher Posted August 14, 2007 Posted August 14, 2007 Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seemshopeless. Re: Hello internet, goodbye privacy. Fighting tracking cookies seemshopeless. Gretch wrote: > In news:1187004725.12900.0@iris.uk.clara.net, > The Natural Philosopher <a@b.c> wrote: > >> For better or worse the moment a page load is finished, so is your >> physical session with the server. > > You might wish to review the Firefox/Mozilla definition of "session" wrt > cookies ... one opens a browser process to start a "session", and a > "session" is ended when the browser pid, including all children, is > terminated. > yeah, as I pointed out in the bit you snipped, the cookie is stored on the browser to extend the concept of a session beyond that offered by the TCP/IP connection itself. Whilst cookies can be abused, they are an integral and necessary part of any web based transaction that consists in more than a single entry form. Just because a site uses cookies, doesn't mean it is spying on your computer: In fact, mostly it just wants to know who you are so your details don't get mixed up with anyone elses.
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