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AdBock/Ghostery/NoScript/etc means you don't have to trust any website not to track anything.

Do you trust Evidion, makers of Ghostery, given that they state quite openly that:

That technology includes Ghostery, Evidon’s browser tool that reports on data collection across 26 million websites and informs the company’s business control solutions.

Hint: Ghostery is not for your benefit. It is for the advertising industry's benefit.

Very last sentence of the third bullet: "GhostRank is a voluntary, opt-in feature."

However, the Evidon website does not engender ideals of quality control with "how they got there and they’re impact on you".

The more direct page does have the final connection: "Ghostery users supply much of the information that comprises our Company Database, which includes every business that uses audience data in some way, including for online behavioral advertising."

However, it still doesn't actually connect to whether it's still tracking you if you choose not to opt-in to the GhostRank feature.

Don't forget Ghostery.

Indeed, don't forget to avoid it. it is a product of the advertising industry itself, specifically Evidon.

Don't you think they love the metrics it provides about the types of ads and beacons that people are choosing to block?

Let's see what Ghostery's maker says:

That technology includes Ghostery, Evidon’s browser tool that reports on data collection across 26 million websites and informs the company’s business control solutions.

holy shitsies you're right! i never knew that about the blocker. a little part of my heart is sadder now...

Don't forget Ghostery.

Indeed, don't forget to avoid it. it is a product of the advertising industry itself, specifically Evidon.

Don't you think they love the metrics it provides about the types of ads and beacons that people are choosing to block?

Let's see what Ghostery's maker says:

That technology includes Ghostery, Evidon’s browser tool that reports on data collection across 26 million websites and informs the company’s business control solutions.

Just bear in mind that Ghostery is a product of an advertising company, Evidon, with the explict goal to keep quality content ad-supported and free.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather have (1) quality for a small fee or (2) quality and no ads. But nothing in between.

So Ghostery is a clever mechanism of maintaing the status quo that brings advertising companies revenue.

Do you realise that an ethical faction of the advertising industry itself is behind Ghostery?

FTFY

Ghostery provides reports to Evidon about advertisers and data collectors, which Evidon then provides to advertising industry groups including the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Direct Marketing Association, parts of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). These agencies then use those reports to monitor how Online Behavioral Advertisers operate and, when needed, refer them to the Federal Trade Commission.

This is a great business model. Offer a free service to the benefit of consumers; Use service to monitor and analyze advertisers methodology; sell data to advertisers and report advertisers breaking the law. Granted DMA have some shitty policies, but better than no policies at all.

Do you realise that the advertising industry itself is behind Ghostery?

It's a good point to bring up. I too have used Ghostery for a long time and put some amount of blind trust in what they're doing. But looking Evidon's site, I see that the main thrust of their revenue seems to be in selling compliance products to governments and corps. This app which manages browser trackers for compliance is likely based on the Ghostery codebase and likely why they scooped it up.

And I see on Ghostery's blog that they blacked out their site during the SOPA Blackout day. So it's always good to question who's pulling the strings behind the curtain, but in this case I think both the company and the users of Ghostery win.

I use Ghostery. Have for years.

It's beginning to worry me. Who's all the captital behind this effort? I mean, Better Privacy and AdBlock are pretty grass-roots, got a bee-in-a-bonnet based efforts.

But Ghostery is a small part of a well-funded startup - with well-paid developers. And graphic designers!
http://www.ghostery.com/

"© 2011 Ghostery, a service of Evidon, Inc. All rights reserved."

http://www.evidon.com/faq

7. Explain your relationship with Ghostery.

Ghostery is the same service it used to be, only better, because now it has the resources of a substantial company to develop even better capabilities for helping consumers discover and control the entities that track them across the web. Moreover, Evidon is not an advertising company; we're an assurance company built to facilitate compliance with OBA regulations. Ghostery's founder, David Cancel, is a shareholder in, and advisor to, Evidon.