How to Keep Companies from Tracking You Online—for Good

Yahoo Finance ^ | Mar 26, 2014 | Mandi Woodruff

[kingattax]

These days, it’s nearly impossible for the average consumer to expect anonymity online or off—at least not without a bit of legwork.

Data brokers—companies that specialize in gathering information about consumers and selling it to third parties—have turned the collection and sale of publicly available personal information into a multibillion-dollar industry.

At any given moment, hundreds of these companies are analyzing everything from our zip codes, income, and ethnicity to our taste in music, our driving records, and how often we search for funny cat videos.

They then take that information, sort us into groups, and make a fortune selling it to marketers, employers, charities, government agencies, and other businesses. As to what they do with this information, the details can be hazy. Some information is sold to marketers, but some can be used to screen prospective employees, to run background checks, to detect identity theft, or to come up with a dubious alternative to traditional credit scores.

We know little about data tracking and the companies that do it. Neither regulators nor lawmakers have managed to wrap their heads around data brokers quite yet.

[Cyman]

https://www.torproject.org/

[lulu16]

Thank-you.

[lulu16]

Tracking Ping! Keep co. from tracking you online. I need this. Thank-you.

I’ve noticed if I’ve click on say, a pair of shoes, it will appear on other website advertising spaces. I’d say I’m being tracked.

[shove_it]

self ping

[grobdriver]

Bookmark for study.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Been using TOR The Onion Router to give our friends at the NSA something to do for their fat checks. The TOR browser is a version of Firefox that uses a sequence of TOR routers to mask your IP address from all but the most dedicated spooks.

It's interesting to see how much information isn't passed by (or is assumed from your IP) the TOR browser, especially when you google something and find the default response is in French. I find that I cruise FR with TOR and everything else I do in the clear because it works better.

Fight the Free Sh☭t Nation

[Skooz]

bfl

[ShadowAce]

[ShadowAce]

TOR is no good. The government maintains at least one exit point from the network. They’re monitoring everything in and out of there.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Yes, but with TOR you get SSL everywhere so at least they are going to have to work a bit for it. Make them actually crank those CPUs that you paid for. There is nothing you can do to stop them, but you can slow them down a bit.

[GOPJ]

Great post... thanks

[GOPJ]

Ghostery nice ...

[ShadowAce]

They won't even notice the CPUs they're using to track you. You're not even slowing them down. You're just making it easier for them because they know where you are by manning the gate.

Don't use the network, and they have to go looking for you.

[Mycroft Holmes]

So, what would you do?

[ShadowAce]

The best solution is to use the products that prevent tracking, like those listed above, and to not use products that depend on outside entities to guard you.

Don't mention things they are looking for, and don't go to sites they are monitoring. I've already violated the last one by posting here. I'm using a proxy to redirect my traffic, though--one I configured myself.

[Ignatz]

Reference

[AllAmericanGirl44]

bkmk

[JimRed]

1. Find data broker’s HQ.

2. Destroy data broker’s HQ.

3. Repeat as needed.

[roamer_1]

I think that attempting 'Do Not Track' does virtually nothing except track you as a security conscious individual... Kinda like when I opted out of my So Sec number being used as my driver's license number... It really did nothing except let them know I didn't like it. Corporate participation in 'Do not Track' is completely voluntary - meaning the nasty ones are gonna do it anyhoo... And since the tracking would only inhibit third parties, first parties (think Google) will continue unrestricted.

The only way, and I mean the ONLY way to surf anonymously is to keep a war-drive for your laptop (or a different laptop altogether), with a mac address spoofer, and absolutely *no* personally identifiable information whatsoever, to include software with identifiable keys (Microsoft Office, etc). Then that configuration or laptop must only be used from coffee shops, hotel lobbies (or parking lots) or by drive-by pirating of open connections, never *ever* being used from your own network. That laptop/persona must *never* log on to *any* site using *any* of your normal user stuff (like online mail, FreeRepublic account, etc).

[Salvavida]

TY ;-)