How to Stop Facebook from Tracking You-gctid57224

[Agya Yaw]

How to Stop Facebook from Tracking You

By Samantha Felix | Business Insider – Thu, Sep 13, 2012 10:13 AM EDT

Most people don't realize that Facebook (FB) can continue to monitor their internet activity, even if they are no longer logged into the site.

Using "Facebook Connect,"  and other social plug-ins, Facebook is able to set up a cookie on any  site that has a "Like" or "share" button, giving Facebook access to a  startling amount of user information. Technically, the purpose of these  plug-ins is to authenticate users, but it still has the ability to collect personal information such as the IP address of your computer, browsing data, outside login information, phone numbers, etc.

The cookie, known as the "datr" cookie, has been a controversial topic  for the past year. Using this cookie, among other things, Facebook  knows what you have read on a web page even if you did not click the  "like" button. As the Wall Street Journal reported,  "for this to work, a person only needs to have logged into Facebook or  Twitter once in the past month. The sites will continue to collect  browsing data, even if the person closes their browser or turns off  their computers."

To help users control how and when their  information is tracked and distributed, companies such as Abine and  Ghostery have developed tools that allow users to block Facebook social  plug-ins, cookies, and other trackers.

We identified five  practical options for consideration, including an option for web site  publishers that will help protect their customers from trackers while  keeping their websites running smoothly.

Do Not Track Plus — A browser add-on that will identify and block trackers.

(DNT+ website)As Business Insider previously reported, Abine's DNT+ tool  is a FREE add-on that monitors, tracks, and allows users to block any  trackers and requests that may be following their internet activity. It  is compatible with MAC or PC for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet  Explorer. It is currently able to block more than 600 trackers, and  automatically updates to catch new trackers.

Ghostery — similar to DNT+ but this add-on is also available for Opera.

(Ghostery)Similar to DNT+, Ghostery  is a browser add-on, owned by Evidon, that protects consumer privacy  while online. By giving the consumer visibility into who is tracking  their online activity and allowing them to block all or specific  trackers, it empowers users with the ability to stop third parties from  collecting their personal information without permission. It currently  has more than 16 million monthly users and pulls data from over 26  million web domains via an opt-in service of 7 million users.

Ghostery  is free to download, free to use, and does not contain any adware or  spyware. It is available for all major browsers: Firefox, Safari,  Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer.

Disconnect and Collusion for Chrome — A robust tool that will identify and block trackers, but is only available for Chrome.

(Collusion for Chrome)Chrome Disconnect Website
Similar  to DNT+ and Ghostery, Chrome Disconnect allows you to stop third  parties and search engines from tracking your web activity.  Specifically, this tool focuses on allowing users to disconnect from  sites such as Facebook, Digg, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo without risking  the performance of the sites. The tool blocks identifiable cookies  while allowing you stay logged into various sites.

Collusion for Chrome
This  site allows users to then see which third parties are tracking them by  graphing the spread of the data from sites to tracks, exposing them, and  giving users the ability to block the trackers.

Consider adjusting browser settings to control trackers.

(Business Insider)Before downloading yet another piece of software on your computer, consider simply adjusting the settings on your browser.

Firefox:  Firefox> Tools> Options> Privacy> click the box that says,  "Tell websites I do not want to be tracked." Then you should set it to  "never save your history" and remove cookies frequently.

Chrome:  Chrome> Preferences> Settings> Advanced Settings>  Privacy> Content Settings> Click, "Block Third Party Cookies and  Site Data."

Safari: Safari> Preferences>  Security> Accept Cookies> select "never." You might also want to  consider browsing privately so your history and passwords are not  stored, and thus accessible.

Internet Explorer 10:  Microsoft's latest version of Internet Explorer 10 will default to a  "Do Not Track" position. The browser will send a signal to advertisers  altering them that users do not want to be tracked.

Evidon — A blocking and tracking tool for web publishers.

(Evidon)Evidon Encompass Revenue Protection: This product  is designed for website owners who want to keep the intentional  tracking code on their sites from spawning additional code from third  parties. It allows websites to see all trackers and how they are  affecting the site's performance, while securing the site's customer  data.

Evidon Encompass Privacy: This is a tool designed specifically for web publishers to help them both comply with privacy regulations, ePrivacy Directive and "AdChoices"  self-regulatory programs, and protect the private information of their  customers. In addition to showing all of the trackers on a site, and  where they are originating from, this tool also alerts web site owners  of everything that needs to be disclosed to consumers about how their  information is being used.

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

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