Jump to content

Yahoo is Tracking Group Members


Camy

Recommended Posts

Yahoo is Tracking Group Members

If you belong to ANY Yahoo Groups - be aware that Yahoo is now using

"Web Beacons" to track every Yahoo Group user. It's similar to

cookies, but allows Yahoo to record every website and every group you

visit, even when you're not connected to Yahoo.

Look at their updated privacy statement at

http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/details.html

(You may have to cut and paste the address into your browser.)

About half-way down the page, in the section on *cookies*, you will

see a link that says *WEB BEACONS*.

Click on the phrase "Web Beacons." On the page that opens, on the left

find a box entitled "Opt-Out."

In that section find "opt-out of interest-matched advertising" link

that will let you "opt-out" of their snooping. Click it and then click

the opt-out button on the next page.

Note that Yahoo's invasion of your privacy - and your ability to

opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific. That

means you will have to opt-out on every computer and on every browser you use.

I found this elsewhere and opted out.

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...
Note that Yahoo's invasion of your privacy - and your ability to

opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific. That

means you will have to opt-out on every computer and on every browser you use.

This means that they are using cookies to determine if the machine has "opted out". Any time you delete cookies you will need to go back and opt out again....unless you protect the cookie.

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...

Thanks Camy, I was just telling someone last night about the moment I realized that topics I had typed into email were appearing in the ads on the right side of the page. And I figure any time they provide an opt-out (albeit, well hidden) it's because they are required to, and I have to wonder whose idea of protection this is?? I don't have enough info to be sure, but I might have to have more respect for someone who just admits they could care less about me or what I want or what is in my best interest than the motives behind this dog and pony show.

Tracy

Link to comment
I opted out.

Colin :hehe:

Should I frighten everyone?

I saw there was a new post on this forum and decided to verify that I was opted-out. Wrong. My Yahoo Opt-Out setting in IE8 and in Chrome were both reset to opted-in. I did the Opt-Out thing in both browsers (those two browsers are the only ones I use for Yahoo). But if Yahoo resets these values it means we have to recheck periodically. The question remains, why are the settings being reset by Yahoo? Is it because minor browser updates "look" different to Yahoo? Whatever, this basically sucks.

BTW, Yahoo doesn't need to use cookies; they can use the machine ID to identify each computer. This is often the MAC address of the network adapter or router, but can be a generated ID specific to an application program (i.e. Adobe) or website (i.e. Yahoo). Identifying a browser is more complicated, and less precise.

Colin :icon_geek:

Link to comment

It's all done anonymously, just to feed you "appropriate" ads. A ton of websites do this. I know that doesn't make it right, but it's a way of life on the web.

In a way, I'd prefer to be forced to see ads for stuff I like, rather than being forced to see ads for random stuff I don't care about. But Yahoo is no worse than a thousand companies out there. I know some dislike Amazon for similar reasons.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...