Web snooping and cookie control

self

[djf]

OK, first, let me say I have a Facebook acct. And I use my real name on FB.

I just Googled something to find out more about some sales at a local hardware store. One of the first sites was some outfit called "Yelp"

I opened the page, and very prominently, at the top, it said something like "Hi djf - let us personalize your experience" and it showed my FB picture.

I've also been seeing more and more sites that have a little blip towards the bottom saying "be the first of your friends to like this", then more BS redirections to Twitter, etc.

Now I DO NOT WANT some random website I visit to know all about me! I DO NOT WANT the FB people to have access to my browsing history or where/what I do on the net.

I'm using Firefox, does this mean I have to turn off all cookies for all sites?

Thoughts? Opinions? Solutions?

[GOP Poet]

thank god jim doesn’t give us a place for pictures.

[bootyist-monk]

Just for laughs, a quick search of recent postings to FR, and I can pretty much narrow down the state, and perhaps the city, where astronaut resides. Rocket science this ain’t. So, if you’d like to use a service like Facebook, realize what you’re signing up for, exercise caution if you are concerned about your privacy, then go for it.

BTW, I have a friend that is the head enforcement officer for sex crimes for a mid-western state. He laughs every time we talk about internet anonymity. The easiest criminals to convict are the cyber stalkers and other web related offenders, since they leave a digital trail of every activity that can be used in court.

[21stCenturion]

...

[brityank]

Use Firefox with Add-ons AdBlockPlus, BetterPrivacy, and NoScript. Set them to clear out everything when you close FF. (You can ‘lock-in’ some necessary site info.)

I’ve been infection free for over a year, and ABP & BP keeps those scummy ads away. NS doesn’t allow flash to run unless you allow it. Good luck.

[psjones]

You may want to check out this article.

http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/blogs.detail/display/859/If-you-use-Facebook—UNCHECK-yourself.html

[Astronaut]

You raise excellent points that I neglected to bring up in my original post. I agree with your completely. Everything on the internet is tracked and recorded. It just seems to me that some sites and companies are worse than others. Facebook is one. Google is another. I wont use it as a search engine, and I sure wouldn’t use Gmail because I dont want them reading my personal correspondence in order to put targeted ads up on their site. But you are correct. Unless you go off the grid, privacy is kind of an illusion.