Daily News for the Showing Fancy

Web Beacons and other non-virus invaders

As of late December 2004, we verified this information down to the last worrisome detail.
And FBI details on AOL all the way down, lower left....

Yahoo is now using something called “Web Beacons” to track Yahoo Group users around the net and see what you’re doing and where you are going.  Yahoo is recording every website and every group you visit. Take a look at their updated privacy statement:  http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy

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.  That will bring you a paragraph entitled “Outside the Yahoo Network.”

In this section you’ll see a little “click here to opt out” link that will let you “opt-out” of their new method of snooping.  Once you have clicked that link, you are exempted.  Perhaps.

Editor’s Desk: In 2001, the geek sites reported the government put an aptly named software program, “Carnivore” on all ISP (internet service providers) except Earthlink which refused to allow installation of the program.  Earthlink probably capitulated or were forced to comply by court order.

Carnivore, similar to Yahoo’s Beacon, tracked every move you made online.  It coincidently (?) coincided with the popularization of online banking, therefore access to all financial accounts was a snap for the Carnivore.  It gobbled up your preferences, physical or emotional weaknesses as indicated by the sites you visited, email conversations; it tracked your spending patterns, all of which was transmitted to IRS, DEA, and who knows how many gov'ment agencies.

It was purported to aid the government in the “war on drugs.” Obviously it failed to win so much as a skirmish, much less the war.  That was of course before 911, 2001.

That such software exists is fact.  That it is now used for private gain is also a fact.  That your most intimate business and personal interrelations, your recreational and banking information, your interests, medical records, and yes, drug preferences are stolen without your knowledge or consent is no longer speculation.  It happens.

That is why so many websites and providers like Yahoo provide “free” services. e-mail harvesting ploy

That is precisely why we removed DogTalk from TheDogPlace.  It was expensive, state of the art, used by CNN, Oprah, etc. but there was increasing evidence that it could be used by crawlers and spiders to capture your information.

We may again provide a bulletin board but it will not be until we can do so with absolute confidence it will not invade your privacy or computer.  This editor has been accused of being a privacy nut.  So be it.  Our staff and SAAB are committed to protecting you, even from things you never knew existed, until now.

That is why we removed the Resource Library "search function" (Atomz) installed by a previous webmaster. The provider suddenly, without warning, added code that permitted YAHOO search engine "sponsors" access to your computer every time you performed a search! The Library Search will be replaced with a CF program written by our much wiser and more professional webmaster.

Before you sign up on any site, commercial or otherwise, read the Privacy Policy with skepticism and attention to detail. I am your wordsmith and trust me, words can be tricky!

NetPlaces, Inc. provides solutions that allow you to participate on our websites with almost total protection.  Notice the words in italics.  We made it easy for you.  Almost.  We protect you by not knowingly providing a link to any site that uses or allows ads which grab your info or invade your computer.

Check our Privacy Policy, prominently published in major areas of all Netplaces, Inc. and subsidiary sites.  It not only explains the whole issue, what we gather, track, and why, but it states in plain English that we do not collect or sell your information to anyone.  Ever.

And here’s the key, we do not allow any advertiser to imbed spyware, adware, or any marketing/info-collecting software in any ad anywhere on any of our sites.  Period.

We depend on you to pay the bills because that is the only way we can protect you.  We provide the best advertising value on the net.  Period.

You may be interested in the AOL scandal....

If it's too hot to handle, send it to Editor@TheDogPlace.org