[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Protect Your Online Privacy: Lie here

[MarioGuzman]

You mean folks aren't doing this already? Being in IT for 30 years, I recommend to all my users, friends and family to create and use multiple online and email personalities to surf, shop, and game online. As you state if you must shop and use your own profile associated with financial information, it should be guarded and you should employ a white list to limit access on a need to know basis. Great article.

[MitchellWachtel]

Great idea. Besides, you can put any picture you like. Anyone recognize me?

[MitchellWachtel]

MarioGuzman, on 01 March 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

You mean folks aren't doing this already? Being in IT for 30 years, I recommend to all my users, friends and family to create and use multiple online and email personalities to surf, shop, and game online. As you state if you must shop and use your own profile associated with financial information, it should be guarded and you should employ a white list to limit access on a need to know basis. Great article.

Purchases are another thing. One item to protect you on that score is to use pay pal (someone said), so you are fully protected there. In any case, there is never a reason to tell the truth about yourself on line.

[Tressel]

Dear PCWorld : This web page has 12 companies tracking everyone who visits it :

Microsoft Advertising
Dedicated Networks
Nielson
BlueKai
eXelate Media
Forsee Results
Gigya
MSN Ads
Google Analytics
Doubleclick
VigLink
Netratings Site Census

PCWorld : Your article asks us all what the worst thing about Google tracking us is? It's you dude.

Is this where we get to tell you to 'go away' (only with swearing involved)?

Bloody hypocrisy.

[user6der]

Surely there is a decent browser that does not track or record? It is not hard to illegal to set one up.

[user6der]

.... a browser that doesnt log and record would make a lot of money for its creator too

[hierach]

I've been lying and recommending lying on line for years. Its become hilarious. Even google+ hasn't figured out I'm not the person I say I am on their site. I hope it confuses the heck out of all of them.

[TheOldTopkick]

I don't see how anyone can think anything else.

[ronin7752]

I started doing this several years ago, when AT&T sub-contracted their email servers through Yahoo! Great idea!

I also suggested to people who don't want FB secretly tagging their photos: Upload miscellaneous pictures of strangers and tag them as yourself. It has the same effect.

[bttlkorqn]

Lie, it's the only way to fly on the Interent.

[CraigHerberg]

Thanks for an interesting article. What's frightening is that some marketers have technology to tie a hardware ID to a physical address and store that info on their servers, thereby negating any unsophisticated effort to confuse them. As most people already know, "do not track" is just a request. Personally, I think we should contact our elected representatives and ask them to support privacy legislation with real penalties for violations. In the meantime, don't be surprised if one of the big marketers starts offering an "anomyzing" service, to enhance data collection from those who truly don't want to be data-collected. Craig Herberg

[ronin7752]

Doing this also offers the added satisfaction that the marketing information they are selling is wrong. If enough people do this, it might even eventually put a dent in their profits. (Fat chance! 8D ...But I can dream!)

[ronin7752]

CraigHerberg, on 02 March 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

Thanks for an interesting article. What's frightening is that some marketers have technology to tie a hardware ID to a physical address and store that info on their servers, thereby negating any unsophisticated effort to confuse them. As most people already know, "do not track" is just a request. Personally, I think we should contact our elected representatives and ask them to support privacy legislation with real penalties for violations. In the meantime, don't be surprised if one of the big marketers starts offering an "anomyzing" service, to enhance data collection from those who truly don't want to be data-collected. Craig Herberg

Here's our next anti-tracking software market: Applications that will randomly spoof your MAC addresses. Should be no sweat!

[Tinman1957]

Tressel, on 01 March 2012 - 05:33 PM, said:

Dear PCWorld : This web page has 12 companies tracking everyone who visits it :
Your article asks us all what the worst thing about Google tracking us is? It's you dude.
Is this where we get to tell you to 'go away' (only with swearing involved)?

Bloody hypocrisy.

For someone that knows about all the tracking PCWorld does you should also know that you don't shoot the messenger. He wrote this article and published it on PCWorld, he didn't hire all the tracking companies.
With that being said, you should also give kudos for PCWorld allowing this article to be published even though they use tracking companies....

As for Google products and services, I don't use any of them just because of their privacy standards, or lack thereof. As for other sites that want sensitive or private information, I never give them my true stats. Yeah, I lie to them, have been for years and with a clear conscience too...

I have all kinds of software that keeps these tracking companies from following my every move, including wiping out all cookies including "Smart Cookies".

There is an internet bill of rights floating around in congress right now and all we can do is hope congress or the senate don't butcher it like they did with the CanSpam Act. But I'm somewhat of a pessimist, I think by the time all the lobbyist finish paying off the politicians the bill will be watered down to the point of uselessness.

[JTF243]

This is one of the reasons that I have never liked G00gle, Facebook, etc. While I'm sure Yahoo is also doing the same things, they do not seem to be doing it to the same degree.
Having been with Yahoo since 1997, I have "grown" with them and have learned to be careful of what I do on-line and where I do it. Beside not having accounts with G00gle, Facebook, or Twitter (you people should really check the definition of "twit"), I never bank, pay bills, or buy things on-line, unless there is no other option.
Nowadays, the by-line should be - "Trust nobody!"

[LiveBrianD]

Tressel, on 01 March 2012 - 05:33 PM, said:

Dear PCWorld : This web page has 12 companies tracking everyone who visits it :
...
PCWorld : Your article asks us all what the worst thing about Google tracking us is? It's you dude.

Is this where we get to tell you to 'go away' (only with swearing involved)?

Bloody hypocrisy.

And when I was in a dicussion about blocking ads and tracking here, many of the members (including me) found many of our posts being removed. So... you tell me about ad blockers and privacy and blocking tracking, and yet censor me when I discuss it? What the hell?

[retroguy]

This article deserves a comment in its own tone, so here goes:
This is a ridiculous article.
Besides the obvious fact that the services are free because of targeted advertising - they also work as well as they do by having information about the user. I don't know about you but my time is valuable to me - personalizing the service saves a lot of time and energy for other things.
Next: Google is not a human being - our data is stored on machines that don't know what it means (stalker, huh). Personally identifiable information isn't given out to advertisers. Read the privacy policy! If you ever try advertising on Google, you would feel really silly having written this article. If you have and didn't, well... feel free to play hide-and-seek with machines and algorithms.
And if there is a concern that someday Google will suddenly turn evil and use your information against you - you are expecting a company years in the making and worth billions of dollars to simply destroy itself. There ARE alternatives, and guess what - they collect information too.
While we are at it, do you have any idea how much information credit bureaus have about you? And how it is used? Spend some energy understanding and criticizing them - or do your job requirements somehow restrict your concern to IT related entities only?
We need to be sensible about what we share and offer constructive criticism to keep Google, Facebook etc. in line - not this.
Lastly, have you tried signing in to post comments using your Facebook/Twitter/Google etc account? The idea is to prevent spammers - and yet PC World wants access to my contacts, account information, post on my behalf, and what not. Unlike in the case with Google, sharing this information with PC World doesn't even benefit me.

[TheOldTopkick]

bttlkorqn, on 02 March 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

Lie, it's the only way to fly on the Interent.

Unfortunately you may be quite correct. I still would not want to be without the internet.

[TheTess]

Idea #1 There needs to be a NEW law that will put an end to all of this. The law should be... IF you are going to track me, invade my privacy and have to know what browser, what kind of windows, and how many times I go to the bathroom.. then you have to give each person 75% of all the revenue made from selling my damn personal info! I would say thats only fair, right? Wrong? Ohhh, 99%! Yea thats better.

Idea #2 Lets demand all the personal info on every single google employee out there and be able to track them 24/7!

Only fair!

Seriously, if there was a law that made all companies no matter what kind, and who they are, pay there users for all the tracking info or they get blocked, will make them rethink there business. They wont have a choice. I am tired of these ad companies, google, twitter and everyone else making money off MY info that I OWN and that I NEVER gave them permission to track, sell or use in the first place!

My god, something has to be done. They get rich while we sit here and get "data-raped" 24/7.