Software to stop tracking in websites

[jamorse_99]

There is some software called Ghostery which will block tracking beacons embedded in websites. I installed the plug in to Firefox and also set Firefox to never remember history. I recommend it.

[KGMe]

Very cool, thanks!

Been looking for a new flash cookie delete tool since Better Privacy keeps falling behind the beta releases of FF.

[silverblood]

I use ghostery. It works well. Has never caused any problems as far as I know.

[Lt Dan]

I just added it to FF on a Linux Mint install.

[argentos]

Thanks for that jamorse_99. Just installed it.

[Lt Dan]

So, what's up with the "Google Analytics" tracker on this and other forums? If I block it, what then? Will GIM not know who I am?

[KGMe]

So, what's up with the "Google Analytics" tracker on this and other forums? If I block it, what then? Will GIM not know who I am?

GA is everywhere. I've been blocking it with NoScript forever. All it does is track visitor traffic. It does not have direct interaction with sites at all. It may fudge the stats for the site, but who cares?

[Lt Dan]

GA is everywhere. I've been blocking it with NoScript forever. All it does is track visitor traffic. It does not have direct interaction with sites at all. It may fudge the stats for the site, but who cares?

Thanks, long as its not an invader, I'll likely just ignore it.

[argentos]

GA is everywhere. I've been blocking it with NoScript forever. All it does is track visitor traffic. It does not have direct interaction with sites at all. It may fudge the stats for the site, but who cares?

Thanks for that. I was wondering whether it cut income to the site by lowering reported viewing numbers.

[KGMe]

Thanks for that. I was wondering whether it cut income to the site by lowering reported viewing numbers.

I've been using Adblock Plus for years, and really couldn't care less about a site's profits. If they need cash, make a donation option available. I never "click-through" anyway, and the benefits of being able to manually block objects is well worth it. For example, on this site I block most of the images in the header as well as the Kitco ticker. Much cleaner look IMO, and faster obviously. I've found a lot of sites that have objects like the Kitco ticker that load BEFORE the page content. Sitting around waiting for that object to load so you can read the article is annoying to say the least. GIM2 doesn't do that, but I still prefer the cleaner look.

[KGMe]

Thanks, long as its not an invader, I'll likely just ignore it.

Not an "invader", but it does track your movements.

[jamorse_99]

So, what's up with the "Google Analytics" tracker on this and other forums? If I block it, what then? Will GIM not know who I am?

I'm no expert especially about the GIM website but I think they won't mind. Their login process is not using Google authentication so GIM will know who you are. It does interfere with a website's advertising data but GIM doesn't seem to use that either. Google (or someone) had a case study about Apmex using Google Analytics where they figured out how much money they made by using a certain email campaign. You can individually unblock Google Analytics if you wish.

[Lt Dan]

Thanks, I did block that analytic thing and it doesn't seem to bother the way I use this or another forum.

[dacrunch]

don't know what blocks what... but since I don't like to go to the theater to watch bad movies... I "screen" them first after downloading them from torrents... so I use the free program "PeerBlock" to limit "targeted tracking"... if I'm not mistaken...

Is this Ghostery the same thing, or does it do something different/extra?

(btw - I also use the "for money" program EvidenceEliminator to "safe delete" files in my hard drives, it overwrites all the data with 0s and 1s... - "Normal" delete only erases the file's "title", and the "data" only gets deleted when the computer decides to "overwrite" when you add "new data", so "forensic analysts" courtesy of whomever could "recreate" anything that's ever been on your 'puter and not "overwritten"... Had EE for years on different machines, works wonders, "cleans" external drives too... along with "registry" and "browser history" and more... Download "anything" - but not keep a "record in stone"... $29M fine for listening to music? Yech!...)



edit: just installed ghostery... only difference I see is that a little window comes up for a few seconds saying "Google Analytics"..

.

[argentos]

edit: just installed ghostery... only difference I see is that a little window comes up for a few seconds saying "Google Analytics"..

It took me a while to twig what was going on too. You should have a little ghost at the bottom right of the site window (see screenshot below), clicking which gives you the option of blocking Google Analytics or other similar nosiness for each site. There are also options for global settings.

I'm amazed at how many of the sites I visit regularly have as many as four or even five things found by Ghostery, but I can only thank the OP once!

[ssbn642blue]

I just added it to FF on a Linux Mint install.

Linux Mint 10 is a great distro. And no virus, malware or other junk to worry about.

[Dude]

Ghostery blocks Adsense Ads on FF, but not IE - from what I've been able to do.
Is that correct?

[KGMe]

Since I installed Ghostery, I haven't gotten a single credit at mrrebates.com for purchases at ebay. I'm assuming this is due to the blocking of the Google Affiliate script. I went ahead and whitelisted mrrebates.com, but would have preferred to simply whitelist GA on mrrebates. Unfortunately Ghostery doesn't provide that kind of granularity. I'll update after the next purchase I make whether this worked or not.

[Morpheus]

Before, I was searching for items to buy, for example, I went on Amazon to look at some watches that I was interested in buying. Subsequent to that, no matter what website I visited, I would see ads on that site, for watches, especially the ones that I was interested in buying. Freaked me out. Ghostery add-ons just came our for Opera, which is my browser of choice. So, I'm trying it now, so far so good.