How to Kill some SPAM
Nov 16, 2002 00:09 AM
by leonmaurer
YAHOO, "WEB BEACONS," AND PRIVACY STATEMENTS
Do you sometimes feel like someone is tracking every site you visit on
the internet? Do you find that your email spam is eerily targeted to
your current interests? Do you use Yahoo? There might be a connection.
Yahoo is now using "Web Beacons" to track Yahoo Group users around the
net. They collect your IP address and cookie set information to monitor
your activities. They promise in their privacy policy not to sell the
information, but they say they may "share" it. You might want to take a
look at their updated privacy statement:
http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/pixels/details.html
About halfway down the page in the section "Outside the Yahoo network,"
you will see a small "click here" that will let you opt out of their
new method of snooping. I recommend doing this. Be careful: On the next
screen is a button that will "undo" the opt-out if you click on it.
The lesson here is that while nearly every site has a privacy
statement, you should pay attention and actually read each one. Just
having a privacy statement doesn't mean that the company intends to
protect your privacy. In fact, many privacy statements now have opt-out
buttons hidden within the statement.
[Back to Top]
Theosophy World:
Dedicated to the Theosophical Philosophy and its Practical Application
