If you are on facebook and ebay, I’d suggest logging out of those when you aren’t using them either.
Many “media” and blog sites now grab your facebook info in case you try to post a comment/reply.
And I’ve seen an ebay (sidebar, not newsfeed) ad on facebook that displayed a previous item I’d looked at there with a line like “you still have time to bid on this”.
If you aren’t using a website, you may want to rethink being logged in.
Isolating browsing activity might also thwart any tracking cookings (use one browser for the tracking sites and another for other activity).
You can sign out, shut down, move to the North Pole and change your name and google will still track you. imho.
Some tracking can be good. For example, FR uses Google Analytics to track which links you click on, how long you’re on the site, etc.
Try Ghostery to stop tracking:
https://www.ghostery.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery
Try Startpage instead of Google. Same results with no tracking:
https://startpage.com/
Personally, I stay away from all social media. Have better things to do with my time. Like posting this on FR :)
If you use the internet, you are being tracked. Period.
If you are on the internet you are being tracked by somebody.
Many websites put tracking cookies on your computer.
One program that helps eliminate many trackers is:
http://www.superantispyware.com/
SUPERAntiSpyware has a free version that has limitations
If your power and influence remains below their threshold of notice, they will collect data but will never look at it. You just aren't important enough.
Go ahead and use Google and GMail - they are convenient tools that are far more useful to you than harmful. Unless you are planning to run for the Senate - then quit everything immediately. :)
Bump
I just try to do the simple obvious solutions.
Most sites “track” you - certainly the popular search tools.
“How” do they track you ?
Most leave “cookies” “in your browser” - meaning, your browser puts them in local files on your PC.
The next time you go to the same website it will look for cookies stored by your browser.
This is the obvious thing you can mitigate. You can set configure your browser to not accept cookies - except on a case by case basis. So YOU tell your browser which sites you want to save cookies for, and the rest will be rejected.
A few websites, LOL, do not display correctly, but when I see a “blank” page, if I really want to see the site, I allow cookies for it, look at it, when I’m done, I disallow cookies for it again.
You can also tell your browser you ONLY want to keep the cookies for the SESSION - that is, until you close all your browser windows. That is my default for allowing cookies - session only. The only site I allow permanent cookies for - biblegateway, so it can remember my defaults for searching the Bible.
This way, any time you log in to any website where you have a login, such as where you buy things, log in to FR, etc.... the cookies they leave will be wiped clean when you close your browser.
Adobe flash has it’s own kind of “cookies” that it allows websites to save:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_shared_object
I use a Firefox plugin, BetterPrivacy, to wipe those things clean. If you don’t clean out those “flash cookies”, MANY websites save them and a HUGE amount of data about what you’ve been doing on the web will be saved on your computer.
The real danger, of course, is malicious websites and any malicious software that you inadvertantly install on your computer looking at OTHER website’s cookies and flash cookies, even though they didn’t leave the cookies there.
If they’re serious, the webserver hosting the website you are looking at knows your IP address. It has to in order to communicate with you !
So a webserver can keep its own log on the webserver of everything everyone does on their site - and include the browser IP address in the log. Since it’s the webserver (the website) writing to its own files - there’s no way for a website visitor to control this.
This is why some people use an “anonymizer” - it provides a different IP address to webservers than your own. Of course, the anonymizing service knows your real IP address. So, if NSA, etc., wanted to know a lot of these IPs, all they’d technically have to do is establish a front company that runs an anonymizer service. Or, even more simply, just go to an anonymizer company with a court order to turn over data to them.
I have removed anything and everything remotely connected to Chrome on my machines.
Bookmarking
You can’t hide from Google.
Given the fact that Google-stats is the most popular way site use to track their hit count and page stick just assume if you are on the internet Google is tracking you.
It depends on what you mean by “track”. Right now google has cookies in your computer that record your history so that they can customize your ads.
Even if you delete the cookies your cable company records every single web site you ever visited.
Here’s what you can do to stay under the radar: 1)Delete and disable cookies 2)Cancel your cable and internet. 3)Use other people’s WiFi: Library, neighbors, etc.
Staying signed out of Gmail and Google wouldn’t hinder Google’s ability to track you in the least.
Log out of your DATING SITES!
Otherwise your profile will show “on-line” and that wonderful lady you just had a third date with will think you are still tolling!!!!
“Been there”
Your IP address is being tracked with or without gmail. The the number of people tracking you is in direct proportion to the trail you leave.
Last week in the news was about payday loan company loan applications being sold to criminals.
BFL
Even Free Republic uses Google Analytics page monitoring to help keep FR high in the search results. Once Google knows every page refresh from you and you were simultaneously logged into GMail, they can tie you to both from that point, onward. And remember, Google has publicly stated ‘they keep EVERYTHING’ on us, ‘FOREVER.’
Google is an evil company made up of 0bama supporters feeding your information and activities to the Administration. Starve them with script blockers, cookie erasures, and more. Use StartPage.com to get Google search results, safely.
However, starving the Google beast takes time. Be patient.