sneaky sneaky:
from
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lordbear ----
While the following refers to Yahoo Groups (their community discussion forums) there are some lessons here that apply to more than that target.
1) It's on YOU to know what the privacy practices are for the sites you visit and or frequent. Most any decent site has a "privacy" link somewhere. It can be hard to find but it's really a good idea to find it. And it can be hard to read - some are like contracts with their legalese - but try to get a grasp of what it's telling you.
2) Consider setting up your web surfing environment so as to make it easier for you to protect yourself and how be AWARE when sites are grabbing your information. While most computer savvy people will tell you that Firefox is a better browser for managing your privacy and having control over how sites collect information, and that is true, even Internet Explorer has settings and features that allow you to have greater control. Don't simply accepted the default settings that your browser offers. Poke around under the menus and options and buttons to see what the capabilities are. Chances are you can increase the level of restriction, enable recording of information collected etc., from what's right under your fingertips now.
If you belong to ANY Yahoo Groups - be aware that Yahoo is now using "Web Beacons" to track every Yahoo Group user. 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 privacy statement 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*. FOUND on the left hand side -cookies. On the right, was the opt-out feature so you don't have to doll the steps.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 toot-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.
