Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Belong To Any Yahoo! Groups? Be Aware Of Web Beacons

Victoria from the osxtiger Yahoo! Group writes:

If you belong to ANY Yahoo! Groups - be aware that Yahoo! is now using “Web Beacons” to track every Yahoo! Group user. They’re similar to cookies, but allow Yahoo! to record every Web site and every group you visit, even when you’re not connected to Yahoo!.


Look at its updated privacy statement here.

About halfway down the page, in the section on cookies, you will see a link that says WEB BEACONS.
Click on the phrase "Web Beacons." On the page that opens, find a paragraph entitled "Outside the Yahoo! Network."

In that section find a little "Click Here to Opt Out" link that will let you "opt-out" of its snooping. Be careful NOT to click on the next button shown. It is an "Opt Back In" button that, if clicked, will UNDO the opt-out.

Note that Yahoo!'s invasion of your privacy - and your ability to opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific. That means you will have to opt-out on every computer (and browser) you use.

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