Avast WEBforum

Other => General Topics => Topic started by: drhayden1 on September 15, 2012, 12:27:19 AM

Title: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: drhayden1 on September 15, 2012, 12:27:19 AM
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2n0l9oo.png)

it's a shame someone is spying on your everymove >:(
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: polonus on September 15, 2012, 12:41:39 AM
Hi Dan,

And that is only part of it, just fire  this site up and have a look here  then: www.cookiechecker.nl    -> for cookies and third party tracking
Or use this extension: Collusion for Chrome to see all the interrelated patterns between sites and tracking sites....
And then we did not discuss the tiny little web beacons, they become visible via web bug detector, an extension for google chrome also.
And not all of these trackers are respectable trackers as on the avast forums with it's minimal tracking, we have an 80 out of 100 score where privacy is concerned.
No, dan, there are obscure trackers bordering on being malicious, like admeld and the like, and there are malvertisers, trying to get gains
from re-directed clicks, and it is getting all the more stealthier and hidden and under the hood of the browser, and the results will land on a desk near you,
but they won't pay you for it. That is a real pity, isn't it?

Damian
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: DavidR on September 15, 2012, 01:28:17 AM
Do not track plus is no different from the anti-spyware applications that make a big deal about tracking cookies, a lot of noise about nothing.

This really is the same thing, much ado about nothing much.

Don't allow third party cookies in your browser and even then you can use cookie monster FF add-on to only accept session cookies only. Then there is NoScript and RequestPolicy to block cross site scripting.
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: Aventador on September 15, 2012, 01:42:06 AM
Do not track is kind of a worthless browser extension. Just add Easyprivacy and Fanboy's annoyances to your ABP list of subscriptions and your all set.
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: polonus on September 15, 2012, 01:54:02 AM
Hi DavidR,

When there was really nothing involved, why did they come up with the new European Cookie Regulations.  See: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electronic_communications/the_guide/cookies.aspx
Data controllers must not process personal data that is excessive, well I can tell you tracking data is excessive and tracking goes on in various ways not only via cookies, also via specific  1 x 1 pixel images, specific scripts, etc. etc.. I agree with you that avast forums is not a good example in this respect,

polonus

Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: Para-Noid on September 15, 2012, 02:02:48 AM
I have FF set to allow only certain cookies. I get extremely few cookies. Basically I created a "limited whitelist" for Firefox.
The same with Chrome with the Vanilla Cookie Manager.  As polonus alluded to "you can't completely stop being tracked".
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: DavidR on September 15, 2012, 03:36:40 AM
Hi DavidR,

When there was really nothing involved, why did they come up with the new European Cookie Regulations.  See: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electronic_communications/the_guide/cookies.aspx
<snip>

When it comes to governments and IT security they really are behind the curve, perhaps they should be prosecuting those MPs, Ministers and Civil Servants that lose their unencrypted laptops, USB sticks with hundreds of thousands of individual confidential records on them, etc. to drive home the real serious issues.

Besides that Governments pass laws (some very poor, some misguided and some pathetic) otherwise there is no crime/prevention of misuse. You only have to cast your mind back a little way with the anti-piracy provisions and ability for governments to snoop on you the people they are meant to be protecting. Cookies and Privacy, ha they need to get their own house in order on privacy.
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: bob3160 on September 15, 2012, 03:57:02 AM
The only thing Uncle Sam or any other Government does well is spend it's taxpayers money.
Anything else they touch usually gets screwed up.
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: George Yves on September 15, 2012, 11:33:22 AM
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2n0l9oo.png)

it's a shame someone is spying on your everymove >:(
It's not a secret for me. The only difference is that I am using Ghostery instead of DNT+. By the way, I see nothing unusual that Avast uses trackers on its own forum - they need to collect statistics about the site usage.
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: polonus on September 15, 2012, 12:17:33 PM
Quote
Do not track is kind of a worthless browser extension. Just add Easyprivacy and Fanboy's annoyances to your ABP list of subscriptions and your all set.
A lot of extensions have Google and associates come whitelisted/excluded as by default, additional blocking in Google Chrome can make that browser unresponive or the browser will be treated as being a non-human agent (using Tor+ for example makes Google treat a browser as bot). Google also uses other hostnames as the usual and obfuscated tracking from within a browser is not that easily handled by ABP. There are certain objects that only Dynamite will remove for the time before the browser is refreshed. Seo & ad-delivery is a science and blocking is not a science yet. There is another method against tracking performed by an extension like TrackMeNot which spoils the results with random queries from 10 per minute to 1 every hour to render the tracking less reliable,

polonus
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: bob3160 on September 15, 2012, 02:36:14 PM
I still don't know what the big deal is about tracking or giving up information about which sites you visit ???
Who really cares unless you have something to hide.
If you have something to hide, you shouldn't be on the internet in the first place.  :)
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: Para-Noid on September 16, 2012, 11:30:24 PM
If you have something to hide, you shouldn't be on the internet in the first place.  :)
+1 Amen to that.  8)
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: Dch48 on September 17, 2012, 12:58:24 AM
Hi Dan,

And that is only part of it, just fire  this site up and have a look here  then: www.cookiechecker.nl    -> for cookies and third party tracking
Or use this extension: Collusion for Chrome to see all the interrelated patterns between sites and tracking sites....
And then we did not discuss the tiny little web beacons, they become visible via web bug detector, an extension for google chrome also.
And not all of these trackers are respectable trackers as on the avast forums with it's minimal tracking, we have an 80 out of 100 score where privacy is concerned.
No, dan, there are obscure trackers bordering on being malicious, like admeld and the like, and there are malvertisers, trying to get gains
from re-directed clicks, and it is getting all the more stealthier and hidden and under the hood of the browser, and the results will land on a desk near you,
but they won't pay you for it. That is a real pity, isn't it?

Damian
LOL that site says mmo-champion.com has the second most cookies. I go to that site at least once a day, usually several times. I have the privacychoice tracking protection list enabled in IE9 so it takes care of the great majority of things. I also use CCleaner to delete all cookies that may have accumulated before shutting the machine down every night. I only choose to keep a small number of login cookies so I don't have to type in passwords every time I visit certain sites.  Like this site for example.   ;)
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: Marc57 on September 17, 2012, 01:08:35 AM
Yes Dan,I'm watching you. So you better be good, You better not cry and you better not pout.
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: drhayden1 on September 17, 2012, 10:26:16 PM
[Yes Dan,I'm watching you. So you better be good, You better not cry and you better not pout.)
oh i am shaking in my boots Kissman..... ::)

took off that do not track plus
and put those extra filters in my adblock plus mentioned above and just use ccleaner also
thats good extra.....you can go to the extreme ;D
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: Rompin Raider on September 18, 2012, 01:51:55 AM
I have to admit that I'm tracking "Bob" to see how to get on those nice cruises he takes....excuse me, works on!  :D
Title: Re: even on avast forum somebody is tracking your every move!
Post by: bob3160 on September 18, 2012, 01:59:33 AM
I have to admit that I'm tracking "Bob" to see how to get on those nice cruises he takes....excuse me, works on!  :D
;D ;D ;D
Next comes 3 week in California! (http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=78426.msg839542#msg839542)