Facebook tracking on LDS Freedom Forum

[firefly]

I read an article that Facebook tracks people even when they are not logged onto Facebook. They do this through their "like" button that people attach to their websites. So I got some software on my computer to look at who's tracking me on the internet. It tells me what companies are tracking me and from what websites. I can understand the business aspect but the big brother aspect concerns me. When you go to CNN.com for example you get some 6-8 different companies tracking you, Facebook being one of them.

When I come to the front of LDS freedom forum I get two notices one from "Google Analytics" and one from "Google Adsense". Okay fine it's for advertising, whatever. But I noticed when I open up any of the topics to read, "Facebook Connect" appears as one of the social networks attempting to track me. I checked and I'm not logged onto Facebook. So if I'm reading a discussion on lets say the 2nd Amendment, the constitution, or some conspiracy on 9'11 or sandy hook, the time I looked at it gets logged, sent to facebook and connected to my account there.

I don't see a facebook "like" button any where and I don't see any other obvious Facebook connection on the site. Anyway I just thought other people might like to be aware of this.

[Col. Flagg]

There is no such thing as 'anonymous' in cyberspace, that's for sure. But the fact that you are being tracked by/through Facebook, when even logged off... is highly disturbing. Remember... the big NSA Center here in Utah (a mere 4 miles from my house no less) isn't being set-up with the intent to technologically hunt down/track al Qaida terrorists =)) ... it's for dissidents here in this nation like most of us in the forum who are awake who know what's going on who will speak up and out against their criminal, illegal and unconstitutional actions. They've already made their wishes known when the DHS began classifying Ron Paul supporters, 9/11 truthers and constitutional patriots as 'potential terrorists'.

[uglypitbull]

use firefox as your browser....install Ghostery, and set it to block all trackers.

[Col. Flagg]

Here's a headline today that goes right along with this thread:

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/20 ... icans?lite" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EXCLUSIVE: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

Hitler is probably on the other side enjoying every minute of this crap. :ymapplause:

[sbsion]

no problem, let it be..............we are already had

[uglypitbull]

Hitler is probably on the other side enjoying every minute of this crap. :ymapplause:

I forget who had the vision, but I have heard it mentioned from a few different sources that an apostle/70 saw a vision of Hitler on the other side, and he was all but enjoying anything. He said he actually felt pity for him due to the anguish he was suffering over what he had done here in this life.

[Col. Flagg]

Hitler is probably on the other side enjoying every minute of this crap. :ymapplause:

I forget who had the vision, but I have heard it mentioned from a few different sources that an apostle/70 saw a vision of Hitler on the other side, and he was all but enjoying anything. He said he actually felt pity for him due to the anguish he was suffering over what he had done here in this life.

Yeah, that's probably more the case - I can imagine the suffering he is going through in spirit prison cannot be pleasant.

[A Random Phrase]

Firefly, a while back I was researching about the regeneration of teeth. Suddenly, on facebook, I started getting ads trying to get me to buy the kind of teeth dentists' screw into a person's gums (which subject was on a few of the sites I had looked at).

I have a different program than uglypitbull has (I have firefox), but it also tells me who it has blocked. It's incredible how fast it adds up. I also have a program to delete supercookies when I leave the internet. I cannot tell you what they are, though, because I am not home. Of course, if one pays for these programs, I suppose more companies are supposed to be blocked/removed?

[bobhenstra]

Guess I'll cancel my facebook account! Never liked it anyhow-----

[uglypitbull]

Guess I'll cancel my facebook account! Never liked it anyhow-----

that is a feat in itself.....I cancelled mine a while back....but it never went away. My pics and old posts were wiped out, but thats because i manually deleted them all.

[creator]

When I come to the front of LDS freedom forum I get two notices one from "Google Analytics" and one from "Google Adsense". Okay fine it's for advertising, whatever. But I noticed when I open up any of the topics to read, "Facebook Connect" appears as one of the social networks attempting to track me. I checked and I'm not logged onto Facebook. So if I'm reading a discussion on lets say the 2nd Amendment, the constitution, or some conspiracy on 9'11 or sandy hook, the time I looked at it gets logged, sent to facebook and connected to my account there.

I don't see a facebook "like" button any where and I don't see any other obvious Facebook connection on the site. Anyway I just thought other people might like to be aware of this.

There is a facebook "like" button.. look below. Do you really think Facebook can track (or is) what you look at on LDSFF just because there is a facebook "like" button on the page? (serious question) Or is it just an assumption/fear?

Facebook-like-on-ldsff.PNG (25.7 KiB) Viewed 2070 times

[firefly]

A little too close to the truth?

that's how they got my brother.

Thanks uglypitbull and Random for the info on the cookie blockers, I'll probably add a couple of blockers and see how they work.

[firefly]

There is a facebook "like" button.. look below. Do you really think Facebook can track (or is) what you look at on LDSFF just because there is a facebook "like" button on the page? (serious question) Or is it just an assumption/fear?

Oh there it is. The tracking software must have blocked it from my browser. As to the question of the facebook "like" button here is a quote from an article:

Your web browser makes a request to Facebook to get the button, among other requests. The literal request is something like “Hey Facebook: give me this Javascript file.” This is the only time your browser talks to Facebook. The information provided in this request, which comes from your machine to Facebook, includes your IP address (showing your geographic area), browser type and version, the page you’re on, any Facebook cookies on your machine (which include your unique Facebook user ID), and potentially more information. This exchange happens regardless of whether you’re logged in to Facebook at the time, regardless of whether you click the button (because remember: it doesn’t exist on the page yet), and used to happen regardless of whether you were even a member of Facebook (they claim that’s been fixed).

Facebook then provides the Javascript file, and your browser runs the file and creates the button.

When you log into Facebook, you’re setting at least 2 types of cookies: 1), a session cookie (which is temporary); and 2), a more permanent cookie that stays on your machine unless you manually clear your history. Even if you’re not logged in to Facebook while you browse the rest of the web, that second type of cookie can still exist and provide a greater amount of info on you than without it.

http://www.abine.com/blog/2012/how-face ... s-the-web/

Other info from Geek.com http://www.geek.com/articles/news/faceb ... -20110519/

From a Dutch university:

But data about the user is sent to Facebook regardless of whether the Like button is actually activated.

...

"When a user does not have a Facebook account, there is no cookie and no user ID available. In this case, an HTTP GET request for the 'Like' button doesn't issue a cookie.

"However, when a site is visited which includes Facebook Connect, this application issues a cookie. From that moment on, visits to other websites which display the 'Like' button result in a request for the Like button from the Facebook server including the cookie."

Which means Facebook has swiped another batch of valuable data without asking for permission.


Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2010/11/30/f ... z2K4LIEI7d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As the Facebook like button is everywhere, it's just simple for me to get a blocker and you all can decide what's in the best interest for yourself.

[creator]

If people are concerned about it I don't mind removing it. I can replace it instead with a simple link to the LDSFF facebook page, one that doesn't have javascript (i.e. tracking abilities).

[ebenezerarise]

I think most of the tracking that people are seeing actually comes from Google and its primary purpose is to tailor advertising. Adsense is the most common web advertising out there and it does a good job of showing you the same ads from site to site.

[gnolaum]

use firefox as your browser....install Ghostery, and set it to block all trackers.

I also recommend NoScript

[gnolaum]

Hi all... my profession is IT for over 20 years, and internet development is my focus since the mid 90's. I can say for a fact that any Javascript on a website can track you, but the 3rd party javascript sources are the worst.

I advise using Firefox and getting NoScript. As uglypitbull also said above Ghostery is good too. However, Ghostery will not prevent all sites from tracking you. EDIT: I added the word 'all' because Ghostery will indeed prevent some sites.

When you install NoScript it will, by default, not allow Javascript in your browser. This is ideal but many sites will not work without it. So what you do is click on the little (S) in the status bar and only allow Javascript for the site you are currently visiting. NEVER allow google analytics or facebook. And almost always deny javascript that comes from outside of the current site.

In addition, if you delete your facebook and google cookies every time you close your browser they cannot track you, period. Personally my browser is set to Private mode browsing and it deleted cookies every time I close it. The drawback is that sites will no longer remember that you are logged in, or your userid or password. I say 'drawback' but to me it is a benefit. Just means logging in more often.

Remember: All cross-site tracking is done through Javascript and cookies.

Please feel free to ask me anything about how to prevent tracking. It is not difficult and it is not magic. I am happy to help. :D

[A Random Phrase]

Thanks uglypitbull and Random for the info on the cookie blockers, I'll probably add a couple of blockers and see how they work.

I'm home now. My program is "DoNotTrackMe" and says:
ldsfreedomforum.com was tracking me.
Blocking 3 companies from knowing what I do here.
1 social network (Facebook Connect)
2 companies (Google Analytics, Google Adsense)

You can get the Do Not Track here

The other program (the one that deletes super cookies when you close your browser) is BetterPrivacy.

It is a FireFox addon.

I don't see a Facebook button anywhere, probably because of the do not track program.

Sometimes, a website won't work unless you disable the do not track for that site. If I really want to look at that page, I disable do not track then, when I leave the page, I'll remove the exception and I will go to better privacy (under "tools" since I have it installed) and delete all of the super cookies that are there.

[A Random Phrase]

Thanks, gnolaum.

My browser is always set to not accept third party cookies. (This is way easy to do in Firefox, and nearly impossible in other browsers I have used.) I have to allow them if I want to comment on any post made by Google's blogspot blogs (even my own blog, even when I am signed in), and for a few rare other instances. I also have my browser set to delete cookies every time I close it.

Firefly, I believe abine is the company who makes "do not track me."

Brian, it is not a big deal to me since my program blocks facebook's spies.

[marc]

Curious--why should I be concerned who is tracking me? I use Google chrome. Oh and I usually only spend time here, lds.net, Facebook and maybe Netfilx or Hulu on occasion. Otherwise, I spend my time researching and googling gospel doctrine.

Thanks.

[creator]

Curious--why should I be concerned who is tracking me?

It's a choice. You don't have to be concerned at all. I don't worry about it.

[A Random Phrase]

Coach, too many tracking cookies can slow your browser down. Other than that and irritating ads, I don't know if there's much of a real problem. Some people don't think their browsing habits are anyone's business. I'm one of them.

[creator]

Coach, too many tracking cookies can slow your browser down. Other than that and irritating ads, I don't know if there's much of a real problem. Some people don't think their browsing habits are anyone's business. I'm one of them.

In regards to Google Analytics and Google Adsense...

Google Adsense is how some of us webmasters are able to afford to keep a website like LDSFF running... so while people might think the ads are "irritating" the ads are an important aspect of keeing LDSFF running.

Google Analytics provides me with helpful statistics about the website traffic in general but not about individual users.

[A Random Phrase]

I don't have a problem with Google Analytics (I like to see the stats on my blog; it's interesting - but no personal info is given). And I don't have problems with the ads I see on here (I see them, even though I have the blocker). I do have issues with facebook, though.

I made a mistake. I do not see ads now.

[marc]

Ok, thanks. I have a pretty good anti virus program and since I seldom browse the net anyway and stick to gospel related topics for research/reading/blogging, I seldom to never get pop up ads, etc.