|
Internet Surfing Privacy
Every day, Internet users are giving out personally identifiable information unknowingly and by choice. With the technology available today, users' every action online is being recorded without their explicit permission. There are many Internet surfing privacy software designed to do this either with or without knowledge of the users. The chief issue of Internet surfing privacy is choice and awareness. In today's competitive world, collection of consumer data helps companies survive and thrive. But the question is the manner in which such information is collected. Cookies, web bugs, spyware, smart tags and other Internet privacy software - there are plenty of ways by which personally identifiable information is collected and distributed over the Internet. Described below are some Internet privacy violators and how to get rid of them.
Cookies
An internet cookie is a packet of information sent by a server to a browser, which is then sent by the browser each time it accesses the server. Cookies are typically used to authenticate a registered user of a web site, personalizing the site, maintaining an online shopping cart, etc. Originally developed by Netscape, cookies offer convenience to the visitor if care is taken by the website. Usually internet cookies are specific to one domain - meaning a cookie set by one domain can not be read by other domains. Many websites subscribe to media services that place advertisements for them. One of the controversies surrounding cookies is the use of cookies to build a personal profile of the user’s browsing and purchasing habits. One can set the browser to disable cookies, or use Internet filter software to filter out cookies.
What is Spyware?
Some companies place “spyware” through their software installations, usually without the user's permission. Spyware passes on information about software, browsing habits and purchasing habits of the user to the company's data collection facilities. Spyware programs do not collect information specifically, but report general demographics. Spyware could also have the capability to take names, credit card and other personal information.
The information gathered by such companies are usually sold and combined with other databases to build a profile of individual web users. This profile is mainly used for direct marketing purposes. But proper ad-ware is a serious revenue model for many companies and when used correctly do not pose a privacy threat.
How can you guard yourself against Spyware ? Use:
- Software tools
- Modify the hosts file on the system
- Remove files and making changes manually. This is a complex task as each type of spyware behaves differently and requires a certain amount of technical know-how
Another software tool that threatens affiliate marketing is “steal ware” . These are products that modify affiliate-tracking codes to change the person to whom the payment is due. Such tools completely invalidate affiliate marketing as a valid revenue model. Some peer-to-peer packages are reported to include these steal ware.
What is a Web Bug?
A web bug is a graphics on a web page or an email message that is designed to monitor who is reading the web page or email message. A web bug is often invisible as its size is only 1 pixel by 1 pixel. It is represented as HTML IMG tags. Any graphics used for monitoring is a web bug. All invisible gif images are not web bugs, as some are used for alignment purposes. Web bugs are also known as clear gifs or 1 by 1 gifs or invisible gifs.
The information sent to the server are:
- The IP address of the system that fetched the Web Bug
- The URL of the page that the Web Bug is located on
- The URL of the Web Bug image
- The time the Web Bug was viewed
- The type of browser that fetched the Web Bug image
- A previously set cookie value
Ad networks use web bugs to add information to a personal profile of what sites a person is visiting. This information is stored in a database belonging to the ad network. This in turn determines what banner ad the user is shown. Web bugs are also used to gather statistics about web browser usage and independent accounting of the number of people who have visited a particular web site. Web bugs can be found by using the HTML source of a web page. The web bug is usually loaded from a different server than the rest of the page.
Protect Your Privacy on the Internet
Here are some steps you can take to ensure your privacy while surfing the Internet:
- Take care not to reveal personal information unintentionally
- Use a neutral e-mail address when you expect to be flooded with junk mail
- Avoid sending highly personal e-mail to mailing lists
- Beware of sites that offer some sort of reward or prize in exchange for your contact information or other personal details
- Do not reply to spammers as this increases your chances of being flooded with spam
- Before revealing even your e-mail address, be sure to check the web site’s privacy policy.
We thank you for visiting our directory, and wish you well in whatever endeavor brought you here. We are constantly adding new information and resources to our site, both general and state specific in nature, so check back often. |
