Yahoo Tracking Users

[Bionic Chicken]

Saw this on another site and figured I'd make everyone here aware of it.

BC

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 use

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 privacystatement at

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

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 browser) you use.

Please forward this to your other groups. You might complain, too, but I'm not sure if anyone is listening. I remember when they signed all users up to get spam and we had to opt out of that a few years ago.


Not a nice program, and it is something I believe will become an invasion of privacy on a major scale at some time in the future.

Needless to say, in these days of intrusive snooping by corporations and governments, opting out may not actually achieve anything.......Disturbing.

 

[Wire Weasel]

Ya, and Google does it too, and no telling who all else.

 

[mackmobile43]

Use of Web Beacons

Microsoft Web pages may contain electronic images known as Web beacons - sometimes called single-pixel gifs - that may be used to assist in delivering cookies on our sites and allow us to count users who have visited those pages and to deliver co-branded services. We may include Web beacons in promotional e-mail messages or our newsletters in order to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon.
Microsoft may also employ Web beacons from third parties in order to help us compile aggregated statistics regarding the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns or other operations of our sites. We prohibit Web beacons on our sites from being used by third parties to collect or access your personal information.
Finally, we may work with other companies that advertise on Microsoft sites to place Web beacons on their sites in order to allow us to develop statistics on how often clicking on an advertisement on a Microsoft site results in a purchase or other action on the advertiser's site.

 

[Sonwatcher]

You can bypass clicking on "cookies" . When the first page comes up from the link above just look to the right column and you will see the "Opt Out" box . And yes, it is browser and computer specific .

 

[N9RZD]

thanks, done deal

 

[rfoverlord]

opting out is a good thing