Ghostery Reveals What Sites are Tracking You,

[MineralMan]

and how intensely they're doing it. You can download it yourself. It's free, and it will show you what the websites you visit are using to track you and what you're doing on the site. You get a list of the things, and the ability to block them, too. For FREE!

Here are the numbers of tracker links from some sites I just checked:

It's very interesting, to say the least. Go try it. Free download at http://www.ghostery.com/

Foxnews.com - 24
Huffington Post - 19
Firedoglake - 16
cnn.com - 15
alternet.org - 14
naturalnews.com - 15
drudgereport.com - 29
dailypaul.com - 19
yahoo.com - 7
Bing.com - 4
dogpile.com - 2
aljazeera.com - 10
rt.com - 3

google.com - 0
facebook.com - 3
DemocraticUnderground.com - 1 Google Analytics
Whitehouse.gov - 2
nsa.gov - 1 Google Analytics
fbi.gov - 3

[enlightenment]

1. It also blocks trackers easily.

I use it along with AdBlock and NoScript (okay - I'm probably a little paranoid . . . I admit it . . .)

[MineralMan]

2. Yes. I think I said that in the post, too.

It's a cool bit of software.

[enlightenment]

7. Reading fail.

My apologies. Looked at it twice before I saw it.

[russspeakeasy]

3. So, how do we get it ?

[MineralMan]

5. Sorry. I added a link on edit, but here it is again:

http://www.ghostery.com/

[bemildred]

6. http://www.ghostery.com/

[bemildred]

4. Yes, it does. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

8. Ghostery is great

I just installed the Firefox add-on.

[Journeyman]

9. Thanks for the link. Seems a useful extension. . .

[Whisp]

10. who exactly are you and me to them?

Can they tell where you are from, your ISP, anything more about you other than the handle you use?

If you put in your age, for example, on a site you visited to register for something - does that stick and get scooped up by them and sort of compiled for a general profile of you?

[Electric Monk]

12. Other sites you've visited with the same tracker, your OS, browser, IP address, country

language preferences, and the referring page (how you got there).

Click here, for example. This page shows what it can tell about you.

http://www.hashemian.com/whoami/


Maybe more?



edited to add today's Sherman's Lagoon

[Whisp]

13. Thanks, Monk! gonna read that. n/t

[bhikkhu]

18. A unique user with a profile is $ - the information is a saleable commodity

Trackers have been working in the background for a few years now. Most websites you visit install trackers on your computer. The site owners may not use them and may not even be aware, but somewhere down the line you are being profiled and commoditized.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395073512989404.html

That's from 2010. I've heard its gotten much more pervasive and sophisticated since.

[Whisp]

19. now those are the suckers I have fear of...

the NSA, not so much.

I could be proven wrong tomorrow or sometime in the future, but none of this NSA panic button sky falling on your fiery hair makes me feel threatened one bit.

[nebenaube]

28. Really?

How does it enhance national security to keep an inventory of every citizen. Full profile, life history, medical history, political ideology, education, skills matrix. If the government collapsed or fell wouldn't such an inventory be a major liability to the surviving citizens? Coerce, conscript, purge. The citizens have already lost control of this 'secret program'. It's the ultimate black/white list, presuming the data is valid.

[Whisp]

29. does this mean that Social Security records, etc., should be kept on papyrus

and distributed randomly across the country?

I fail to see your point.

[nebenaube]

45. There is a big difference in the data points required for normal operation of government

and the archiving of all reality that will only be used against the peasants.

[Warpy]

11. It can also delete most adverts

However, the occasional widget allows you to see site media, so you've got to be careful there.

I'm not surprised Drudge is the champion for a dirty site.

I've been running it for about a month and the only complaint I have is that the list of rubbish covers the "sign in" here on DU.

[TroglodyteScholar]

15. You can disable the popups

Click on the little Ghostie and go through the tutorial....

[Warpy]

16. It was the only thing that got rid of a loudmouthed woman

who'd pop up and tell me I'd won something or other every time I changed a page. That cow managed to survive AdAware, Malwarebytes and my heavy duty antivirus.

Ghostery shut her up.

[olddots]

14. nothing for youtube ?????????

I would imagine them to be big data miners ( I didn't open the link to ghostery because I'm paranoid

[MineralMan]

32. I rarelyy use it, so did not think of it. nt

[madokie]

17. thank you

What I do is only allow a few websites to place a cookie on my computer at all. DU is allowed with the few others that I allow allowed for the session only. Very seldom do I have a problem with that.

[Fumesucker]

20. The "Do Not Track Me" plugin for Firefox says Google Adsense is also trying to track on DU

Just for your information.

[MineralMan]

21. Only if you're not a star member.

Another advantage of supporting DU.

[Fumesucker]

22. I was a star member for quite a few years

The strenuous and incessant advocacy by a plurality of DUers for right wing policy has caused me to reevaluate my priorities in view of my pathetic finances.

I didn't block the ads for some time, figuring that DU got a little from every click, but the nature of some ads was becoming such that I didn't feel comfortable doing that any longer either.

At one time I took DU fairly seriously, now it's just entertainment and a time wasting habit that I've not yet managed to kick.

[MineralMan]

30. OK. I do not agree with everyone here

either. I have been called names, insulted and my ideas have been ridiculed. Yet, I find DU the very best political forum on the web. I am a Democrat, and have always been one. So, I contribute to DU, because I think it is valuable. It is a choice.

[jtuck004]

23. Another one - for Mozilla/Firefox users

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/collusion/demo/

From that page

If you're not paying for something, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold.

- Andrew Lewis

Thanks for posting that.

[wtmusic]

24. "...you have our promise that Ghostery will never be used for advertising".

ok.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. Try this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PeerGuardian

[Snarkoleptic]

26. I've used it for several months and it's been great.

If you download, be sure to "update bug lists" every 2-3 weeks as new trackers ar always popping up.

I also use Firefox add-on "Better Privacy", which removes LSO "supercookies" that normal cookie removal doesn't touch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_shared_object

[RKP5637]

27. Works extremely well, been using it since about its first release. n/t

[KoKo]

31. You are a DU Donor Star Member...so you aren't getting "Ad Tracked."

You should have made that clear in your post.

If you have AdBlock and other things...numbers would be different than if all you had was "Ghostery"...I would think.

It might be good to sort that out...rather than making it seem like Ghostery has the Goods on all Tracking. It's a great tool...but many of us have other resources and the results might vary if one did a true "in depth analysis" for comparison.

Just Saying "MM"...

[MineralMan]

33. There is a star next to my screen name.

I did not think it was necessary for me to say that. But I did mention it when someone pointed out the adsense thing. I have been a star member since I joined DU. I do not see ads here, so I do not think about them.

[KoKo]

34. I used to be a Star Member...but that was before the DU-3..But,

you realize your DU Experience means that Admins have said if you Donate you don't get ads.

I didn't get that clearly from your list making it seem that DU Tracked Less. If you are a Donor to get a Star...it tracks less...but the way you posted...it made it look like DU tracked "less" than other sites. Which is only true if you Donate.

They ALL TRACK...and we don't know what "Ghostery" or the stuff the rest of us use...misses because we are up against Very Sophisticated Government Programs. Even Admins probably don't know what is being tracked here on DU.

This is a Political Forum..and you realize how important that would be to track Political Forums and Discussion Groups on the Web. Many of us old timers on DU figured out under Bush that "Agent Mike" was here...and that's why the joke started. I bet we have more than "Agent Mike" intercepting us here these days...no matter what Mozilla or our Internet Security Programs and all the other stuff people say.

THEY HAVE IT ALL!

[MineralMan]

36. Franky, I think you overestimate the interest

of anyone in DU. It is a good discussion forum for Democrats, but nothing here is of interest to the government itself. DU is simply not that important, and the discussions here are far too innocuous to interest anyone who is not here.

It is far from being a hotbed of dissent and actvism. It is just a place to discuss stuff.

[KoKo]

39. lols.....you weren't here for when we did big time activism. And, what happened with that.

And you don't think they checked out the Occupy Wall Street Group here on DU-3? You don't think they check out activism in State Forums. You don't think they don't know the activists here and track? It's their business to do that.

This place is a Goldmine...

I'm surprised with your background you would not think so. But, then, with your background it would be worthwhile to allow us to believe that this site is so innocuous as to have no interest. 's I realize that your work was many years ago...but, you can understand my point and not take it personally.

[IDemo]

35. Wow, there's still a dogpile.com?

I did not know.

[MineralMan]

37. Yup. It still works pretty well, too. I use it to check SEO results

Across a spectrum of search engines sometimes.

[IDemo]

38. "SEO results"

I had to Google that.

[drventure]

40. BEWARE: They are an advertising technology company that collects & sells your data

http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/31/ghostery-a-web-tracking-blocker-that-actually-helps-the-ad-industry/

And they are pushing for self regulation in the industry, which experience in other industries has proven to be untrustworthy.

I would think twice about using them.

Had to finally join, as a privacy freak, I thought it my duty to contribute, for a change, and considering all the chatter about our fundamental rights of privacy, it is more important than ever to speak up today.

In other words... use them, or lose them!

Ghostery: A Web tracking blocker that actually helps the ad industry
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/31/ghostery-a-web-tracking-blocker-that-actually-helps-the-ad-industry/#pZBUsXAzrkuliHyM.99

[KoKo]

41. Thanks...interesting. So you don't use them anymore?

[drventure]

43. NP. I never did, I have always been suspicious of installing tools promissing to protect my privacy.

I mostly use good web privacy practices to ensure my online privacy e.g. strong, multiple passwords, don't post personal private information, do not track, etc.

Though I am not too concerned with sites logging my surfing habits, they all do, including DU, even if you are a start member, as long as they have a good privacy policy in place, which most sites do.

My main concern is in regards to privacy crackers, those who look for ways to crack into sites to steal information that is not public.

It is bad enough with all the script kiddies, and the like, but when you are up against governments, especially the richest one ever, that is a whole different story, and has me very concerned.

[Electric Monk]

42. That website is chock full of trackers and widgets

Ghostery found 24 trackers

venturebeat.com
AddThis
Widget
Bizo
Tracker
ChartBeat
Analytics
ClickTale
Analytics
Cross Pixel Media
Tracker
Disqus
Widget
Facebook Connect
Widget
Facebook Social Plugins
Widget
Google +1
Widget
Google Adsense
Advertising
Google Analytics
Analytics
Kontera ContentLink
Advertising
LinkedIn Widgets
Widget
Madison Logic
Advertising
Marchex
Tracker
Parse.ly
Tracker
Po.st
Widget
Quantcast
Advertising
RadiumOne
Tracker
ScoreCard Research Beacon
Tracker
Taboola
Widget
Twitter Button
Widget
Visual Revenue
Analytics
Wordpress Stats
Analytics