Protect your privacy: search the Web-PCWorld

When browsing the Web, it's as if you have a lot of companies were allowed them to implant a tracking device in his hand and a small camera, recording, where to go and how. Thanks to the advertising networks, search engines, ISPS and social network, your online activities are monitored, analysed, and sells. But it's a few things that you maintain a certain degree of privacy.

Advertising networks

The risk of: advertising networks, such as DoubleClick, Quantcast, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and still others use different techniques to know of pages that you visit and the ads to respond to. They do so in order to precisely target ads, see.

The most common way is by using a tracking cookie, Web bug (small picture or part of the code, which refers back to the advertising network servers and Sets or reads a cookie). Each cookie contains a unique code that identifies your Web browser; in combination with specific information sent by the Web bug, "says the ad network, which Web sites and pages you visit. (These cookies are different from those sites, they watch you locally or retain preference settings).

Tracking cookies are just one ad networks use technology to track the activities. And these networks can only follow you in the event that you visit the Web sites that are participating in the programmes. But because nearly every site now displays advertisements and some advertising networks, can watch and record a considerable part of your use of the Internet.

In the theory of network advertising cookies are anonymous; They monitor your browser, not you personally. However, it may be compared to your name, using things like your IP address. Right now, it's more frightening than dangerous. But after the road, they tied the cookies to you more personally relevant and is used to edit things like prices on products.

Are initiatives to stop or curtail this free-for-all: currently the account disable advertising firms, and other online businesses from the monitoring and the sharing of your personal information is being examined in the context of the US House of representatives and the popular browsers like Firefox and Chrome to experiment with "What is the track" in the framework of their respective applications. Unfortunately, how these strategies are still in early beta, negotiation, and still you must use a more thorough defense protection.

How to protect yourself: mail protection from monitoring-not-track settings in the browser and even the laws mandating not-track registers in motion are the strokes. But as long as such measures to obtain some muscles, you can choose from a large monitoring network by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt-Out page. This industry run Web site checks the system for the tracking cookies from participating advertising networks and allows you to opt-out of one or all at once. It does this by setting the "monitor" cookies, which many business networks. Don't forget to visit this web site on each browser you are using.

The next step is to block cookies from third parties and advertising pages. In Safari's Preferences by > security > accept cookies. Click the check box next to "only from sites I visit" to protect. Firefox go to the Privacy tab in the preferences, select the use custom settings for history from the Firefox Will drop-down and annul the accept cookies from third parties.

You can also use your browser's private browsing mode. Private browsing in Safari (Safari > Private Browsing) is not very efficient, since it still stores the cookies. Firefox (Tools > discretion) imposes less, but still allows you to monitor for a given session, and to stop tracking by IP address.

If you want to really browse under the radar, you will need to install additional Browser Plugins. If you want to start, I recommend Safari AdBlock and AdBlock Plus for Firefox. These supplements to block most of Internet advertising and all embedded monitoring. But they don't want to stop all the monitor. If you want to further strengthen its defense, install the Ghostery for Firefox, Safari or chrome; blocks Web bugs, tracking tags and other methods to monitor more than 200 companies.

Really if you want complete control over your browser, try NoScript for Firefox (best browser security and privacy tool, but it takes a little getting used to) and the extension of the Customs safari Plugin. The only problem is, that may interfere with the way the pages themselves.

As the last provisional use privacy protection tool as MacScan to sweep up any extra information system for monitoring (as well as dangerous spyware and Trojan horses).

Flash cookies

Risk: local shared objects are small text files stored in Adobe Flash, which work much like cookies and often avoid another privacy control. They are very common on main pages and often used for tracking.

How to protect yourself: visit the Adobe Flash Settings Manager online limit, as required by Flash LSOs. In the global storage settings on this page, deselect allow third-party Flash content to Store Data on your computer (to get rid of monitoring). Setting allowable storage space to 0 allows you to manually approve new applications for the LSO.

For more control, I recommend Firefox Add-on module BetterPrivacy. This will delete all LSOs when you exit your browser or after a specified time period. Note that if a lot of Flash games, you might want to allow the LSOs for those sites.

[Rich Mogull has worked in the security world for 17 years. Writing for tidbits and works as a security analyst to Securosis.com.]

Related Articles