Govt. Using 'Web Bugs' to Track Site Visitors
TECHNOLOGY
COMMENTARY
As I have said before on this blog, Web sites don't need cookies to be able to track your movements online. Enter Web Bugs, small, dot-sized graphic files coded with links that report to a host every time the page is loaded, thus tracking your movements. I first noticed Web Bugs when I added advertising to the this blog. I found that with one affiliate, a second, invisible link was coded along with the ad, causing the page layout to skew when my blog template added a border by default to the invisible image.
While not completely effective against Web Bugs, you can help protect yourself by using one of the popular anti-spyware programs available. My favorites include: Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, SpywareBlaster, and Spybot. All are free and updated regularly.
Check out the stories below for more juicy details.
NEWSBYTES
Government Web sites follow visitors' movements
Dozens of federal agencies are tracking visits to U.S. government Web sites in violation of long-standing rules designed to protect online privacy, a CNET News.com investigation shows.
(CNET) From the Air Force to the Treasury Department, government agencies are using either "Web bugs" or permanent cookies to monitor their visitors' behavior, even though federal law restricts the practice.
Nearly undetectable tracking device raises concern
A widely used, yet virtually undetectable, means of tracking people's Internet surfing habits is joining its better-known cousin, the cookie, as the subject of several lawsuits and a privacy initiative by the government.
(CNET) The technology, often called Web bugs or 1-pixel gifs, is prompting further concern that the once-freewheeling Web is becoming more like an Orwellian Big Browser.
RELATED
Also see: BUGNOSIS
Spyware Info: Web Bugs
Web Bugs, also known as: Web Beacons
TENSION: Moderate
GRAVITY: Be sure to load anti-spyware
Tags: FBI, NSA, CIA, government, Computers and Internet, technology
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life
COMMENTARY
As I have said before on this blog, Web sites don't need cookies to be able to track your movements online. Enter Web Bugs, small, dot-sized graphic files coded with links that report to a host every time the page is loaded, thus tracking your movements. I first noticed Web Bugs when I added advertising to the this blog. I found that with one affiliate, a second, invisible link was coded along with the ad, causing the page layout to skew when my blog template added a border by default to the invisible image.
While not completely effective against Web Bugs, you can help protect yourself by using one of the popular anti-spyware programs available. My favorites include: Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, SpywareBlaster, and Spybot. All are free and updated regularly.
Check out the stories below for more juicy details.
NEWSBYTES
Government Web sites follow visitors' movements
Dozens of federal agencies are tracking visits to U.S. government Web sites in violation of long-standing rules designed to protect online privacy, a CNET News.com investigation shows.
(CNET) From the Air Force to the Treasury Department, government agencies are using either "Web bugs" or permanent cookies to monitor their visitors' behavior, even though federal law restricts the practice.
Nearly undetectable tracking device raises concern
A widely used, yet virtually undetectable, means of tracking people's Internet surfing habits is joining its better-known cousin, the cookie, as the subject of several lawsuits and a privacy initiative by the government.
(CNET) The technology, often called Web bugs or 1-pixel gifs, is prompting further concern that the once-freewheeling Web is becoming more like an Orwellian Big Browser.
RELATED
Also see: BUGNOSIS
Spyware Info: Web Bugs
Web Bugs, also known as: Web Beacons
TENSION: Moderate
GRAVITY: Be sure to load anti-spyware
Tags: FBI, NSA, CIA, government, Computers and Internet, technology
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life
posted by Steven Moyer at 8:01 AM
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