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Tracking the Web Trackers
itwbennett writes "Do you know what data the 1300+ tracking companies have on you? Privacy blogger Dan Tynan didn't until he had had enough of being stalked by grandpa-friendly Jitterbug phone ads. Tracking company BlueKai and its partners had compiled 471 separate pieces of data on him. Some surprisingly accurate, some not (hence the Jitterbug ad). But what's worse is that opting out of tracking is surprisingly hard. On the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out Page you can ask the 98 member companies listed there to stop tracking you and on Evidon's Global Opt Out page you can give some 200 more the boot — but that's only about 300 companies out of 1300. And even if they all comply with your opt-out request, it doesn't mean that they'll stop collecting data on you, only that they'll stop serving you targeted ads."
You obviously haven't used tor, it's slow as molasses
It's not like we didn't notice yet that all sending an "opt-out" EMail accomplishes is to increase the value of your mail address because now it is confirmed to be one you actually use.
The only way to stop trackers is to mislead them with false information and block as many tracking as you possibly can. Relying on those that benefit from tracking to comply with your requests is naive at best.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Showing ads is fine when I am actually looking for something; no need to stalk me all the time. If I'm not looking for something I am not going to buy anything either. Oh and make it text ads only because I block everything else and I can't click on blocked ads, can I? Thanks!
Is this a letter for Santa Claus?
It's wonderful that you agree to see ads when you are looking for something; this is how Google makes money. But who pays for all the other websites that you visit for free? They are hosted somewhere on a server that has been purchased by someone, that has its power and cooling paid by someone, and is online because someone is paying the ISP. If you don't want paywalls everywhere, then so far the ads are the only viable solution to help those people pay for this infrastructure.
Or maybe you are one of those people who think that because you pay $35 a month for your internet access you should get all content for free. That reminds me of a girl I knew in college who was making and selling pirate copies of movies but according to her it was legal because she was paying for the blank DVDs and for her internet connection.
There is a serious flaw in the internet business model, everyone knows it. Ads are awful and even targeted ads have a very low conversion rate. Yet for most people there is so far no other way to make money. So why don't you stop whining like an entitled brat and instead start thinking about realistic solutions to this problem? If you find a good one you could make millions.
lucm, indeed.