Help with 'web bugs' requested.

[Mseeker]

(If you don't know what web bugs are, see eff.org or elsewhere)

Web bugs, also called web beacons, and by other names, are a non-cookie,
non-IP related way to track people on the internet.

In a way, it has made protection against cookies almost obsolete.

I've read that some ad-blocking programs would block some web bugs, but I'm
looking for something that blocks, detects and is able to scan for web bugs
(or if that's too much, just part of that).

I use IE 7. (No Firefox !)

The issue is really privacy. Seeing ads can be annoying, but my real issue
is preserving some privacy by not allowing myself to be tracked wherever I go
on the internet. Any programs, means to achieve this ? I suppose proxies or
anonymizer services might help, but they have their own disadvantadges.

Suggestions ?

Too bad that most people don't know about 'web bugs'.

 

[MowGreen [MVP]]

I know of no add-on for IE7 that blocks web beacons. NoScript, an add-on
for Firefox, blocks them. Not sure about Opera, etc.
If you find one for IE7, be sure to post it.


MowGreen [MVP 2003-2007]
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============



Mseeker wrote:

> (If you don't know what web bugs are, see eff.org or elsewhere)
>
> Web bugs, also called web beacons, and by other names, are a non-cookie,
> non-IP related way to track people on the internet.
>
> In a way, it has made protection against cookies almost obsolete.
>
> I've read that some ad-blocking programs would block some web bugs, but I'm
> looking for something that blocks, detects and is able to scan for web bugs
> (or if that's too much, just part of that).
>
> I use IE 7. (No Firefox !)
>
> The issue is really privacy. Seeing ads can be annoying, but my real issue
> is preserving some privacy by not allowing myself to be tracked wherever I go
> on the internet. Any programs, means to achieve this ? I suppose proxies or
> anonymizer services might help, but they have their own disadvantadges.
>
> Suggestions ?
>
> Too bad that most people don't know about 'web bugs'.

 

[Anteaus]

The best approach to these kinds of things is a filtering proxy such as
Proxomitron or Privoxy. These sport a huge range of available filters,
specifically ones to prevent Javascript from generating tagged URLs, and to
remove suffixes from image downloads.

"MowGreen [MVP]" wrote:

> I know of no add-on for IE7 that blocks web beacons. NoScript, an add-on
> for Firefox, blocks them. Not sure about Opera, etc.
> If you find one for IE7, be sure to post it.