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Your Computer Is Spying on You—a Lot

It's now a booming Internet business

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 31, 2010 11:28 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Maybe Mark Zuckerberg is right about this end-of-privacy business. A Wall Street Journal investigation (stories here and here) makes clear that whatever you do online, you can rest assured that some advertiser somewhere knows about it. It's not that tracking cookies exist that's so troubling, it's that there's so many of them. The top 50 websites installed an average of 64 pieces of tracking technology onto visitors' computers, and a dozen websites (including Dictionary.com and MSN.com) installed more than 100.

The cookies are way more powerful than those of a few years back and can pinpoint your "location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions," writes the Journal. Try to delete them and they "respawn." One small bright spot: They usually don't have your name, only your age and gender. The selling of such user profiles (on new exchanges similar to stock markets) is now one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet.

Your computer is telling the world about you.
Your computer is telling the world about you.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 17 comments
Matt Schafer
Aug 3, 2010 12:09 AM CDT
It appears that the USA Today may have been correct in their 15 year-old estimation that the Internet, as far as privacy is concerned, is an “Electronic Pandora’s Box.” It’s unclear whether Congress will move on privacy legislation and while the Federal Trade Commission is expected to release a report in support of a Do-Not-Track list, for now it appears that the user is on his own. The best solution to confronting privacy online may be taking it into your own hands. http://bit.ly/b32VvQ
JGirl
Aug 1, 2010 1:44 PM CDT
it seems to me if they don't know your name or any personal info connected to your identity, they are not really spying on YOU necessarily. it's up to the individual to be smart about what they divulge online. this is merely data harvesting and you may as well get used to it cuz that's the cost of playing on the internet.
SilenceDogood
Aug 1, 2010 6:35 AM CDT
I wonder if the goverment has cookies?

 
Internet • online privacy • computer • tracking cookies

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