The Internet: Tracking the Trackers

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
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This is a bit alarmist but still a good watch on how, as you move around the Internet, a ton of servers are keeping track of your every move as to extract business intelligence to be used for other purposes (ads, profiling, etc.). It is pretty short but eye opening. If you are using Firefox as your browser, you may want to install the plug-in and experience this for yourself:

 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Nice talk; a well-known fact in the tech world; what we should also keep in mind is that the government can also look at this data when investigating something.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
I think for even the people in the tech world such visualizations are eye opening.

Another remarkable thing to do which unfortunately is too technical for most people, is to turn on a network monitor on your computer. This is a tool that captures all data that goes in and out of your computer. It is fascinating to see all the apps that you don't even know about chattering and not just once in a while but all the time. I use that to shut down stuff that I don't need anyway. I think the last one was some Epson app that kept contacting some outside server. My epson printer is in our vacation house and i just use it once in a great while and see no business in it going outside my house. Shame that there is no uniform privacy policy for all apps.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
I was looking for the proper place to ask a question or two about privacy, breach of trust, illegal hacking from hackers who obtain your private information like passwords, credit card numbers, etc., from the Internet. We register and log in @ our favorite websites, and we sign papers (online) agreeing that no one will use our private information in sharing with others. Some of those websites get hacked, and all privacy with it...gone! Pouf, just like that. I can give many examples but there's no need because we're all fully aware of it.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this thread while searching for the best who can answer my serious questions on privacy...all that jazz. I watched the video.

On another website I started a 'blog' on all the biggest world's companies being hacked over the years, with all private member's info in big jeopardy;
Yahoo, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, ...a zillion more from small to largest most secured companies in the world.
I've read an article recently: http://www.todaysgeneralcounsel.com/russian-hacker-gets-27-year-prison-sentence/
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...-ever-us-hacking-sentence-27-years-in-prison/

And I've searched further, with pictures, of his girlfriend and daughter, cars, ...his dad is a Russian diplomat, I've read about his story, about other hacker's stories, about scums like them stealing and selling millions of people's money and privacy.

I was wondering where can we get help in tracking those individuals who are disrupting the global world exponentially by their deliberate actions?
They seem to be hard to catch because our forces are not so "enforcing".
This young Russian hacker has contributed dick in helping us to catch others like him. Do you know what I think, where he can really expire the rest of his days?

What can we do to protect ourselves from unsecured, and also from the most secured and protected places on the planet, like Yahoo for example?

Is there an Internet police force who can access the people accessing illegally personal and private information of all good citizens of our country?

Who can we call if the place we are a member of has been hacked and all private info with it?

Can companies observe your spending habits by having access to hacked credit card numbers? Can we get hacked with tons of junk mails, calls, advertising, that are harassing, irritating, discriminating, offensive, detrimental to normal good living, and if yes how can we stop the people behind?

How can we make our internet surfing private and happier? How can we catch the 'disturbators' who are no good in this society, like the kid from that article above.
I'm sure he's not the only one.

Anyway, it is very alarming that us good planet's citizens are taken advantage of by low-life scums.
When the internet was invented, did they also create a police force to enforce the rules of privacy?

It might sound innocent just like that; but this phenomenon is in my opinion one of the causes of the decline of internet activity from the biggest thieves in the business of deceptive malpractices.

How can I make my cellphone safer from all the scum advertisement of the lowest human factor ever?

* I have more to share, with direct snapshots, more precise info (links), people, etc. depending on the level of response I get.
My main interest is to be knowledgeable in the art of protecting my private life, family, life savings and reputation against the scumbags like that Russian kid.
What resulted from his actions was a chain reaction of events all across people's ways of life which keeps getting worse every day.
I know that we all can realize how essential it is to intensify the people's services and protection they deserve as good citizens of a developed country.

Our government should hire police hackers to hack the hackers and bad apples who have no life, no conscience, bad judgement, no education, bad mentality, no moral, bad temper, no balance, bad behavior, no love, bad violent and distressed brain activity, no intelligence but bad coordination, no compassion, bad bad bad uncontrollable losers.
Brief, how can we stop all the internet hurt?

Anyone? And would you like to see some snapshots of the type of adds they throw down my throat? I'm sure I am not alone.

Alright, I'll be patiently waiting for some answers. :b
This is The Internet: Tracking the Trackers, in the Computer Software and Hardware Technology Forum section.

Oh, what is the best and safest and most secured internet browser in the whole world? Can your favorite browser be hacked too (of course it can)?
Last, can someone enter your computer and check your private information to steal your numbers, your money, your credit cards, your passport, your passwords, your identity, your home, your cars, your boat, your wife, your kids, your gardening tools, your life? If yes, how can we catch him/her/them and put him/her/them in jail forever?

This is serious, and it helps too in putting some energy where it benefits us all, mostly. From a better secured privacy we can all enjoy each other's music playing more.

Doing good in one part of the chain influences other parts of the system to sound more harmonious. ...And the contrary works to its downfall.
It's the force of nature, between good and evil. Never has it been more stronger than in real life, and from the internet. ...I think.
______

P.S. Tomorrow Santana, 04/30/2017, is playing @ Blaisdell Arena Honolulu, HI, United States • http://www.santana.com/
Just like that, for people living around.
 
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NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
Just another brand new fresh example: http://www.businessinsider.com/hack...s-the-new-black-season-5-to-pirate-bay-2017-4
Netflix now, our TV stuff! I bet some apps are spying on us with eyes and ears.

What does it take to track those trackers/hackers?

I bet you five bucks that within the next twenty-four hours there'll be another tracker/hacker story.
The blog that I started on the other side of the moon; I couldn't keep up...every day there was another major story, a breach of privacy into one of the major companies. Also it is not a concern to most people it seems; there was almost zero traffic, except for one guy or two occasionally.

That video above, I also bet that there are several of them from the same line of education. I don't even need to search, and post them.
From experience it is a subject that people don't give due attention. Trust is the foundation on what our families are build on. ...No? Of course yes; it's an open and honest temple @ the base of our justice system. Me I think that way. And it's tough, real tough, because it's not universal, and there is nothing that no one can do about it. We are still living in the jungle of concrete in the year 2017. Me I think that our education system with the leaders leading it is due to a revamp.

I was just reading two schoolteachers who bullied a young eleven-year old girl for months @ school (look it up; it's disgusting), and one of them told the young student to "Go and kill yourself".

The CEO of United Airlines has to ... http://enews24ghanta.com/2017/04/29/united-airlines-ceo-will-testify-in-front-of-congress/
Because they wacked an honest doctor passenger out of the plane using physical abusive despicable force. He ended up @ the hospital.
And the news media, one source, tried to discredit the passenger in order to justify violence!
If only that CEO was on that plane @ that moment, to witness first hand how some people inside his organisation operate! If only ...
You're the boss of a company; make sure your employees are spic-and-span humans with the utmost integrity of human decency.

Tracking invisible trackers requires a vigilant society cooperating with human decency in protecting our families, the public.
In the last case above; a camera from a cellular. But hackers operate in the dark, in confinements around the globe. Edward Snowden I don't think he's about to reenter the USA anytime soon and get away with it. Not under the law of the land. It's a divisive course of action to steal confidential information and make it public to some unsecured people with a history of diabolical hacking, breakers/trackers of privacy.

People who are rich don't play with the hockey puck; they sue whoever attack their white pristine virgin reputation. It's a way of speech, short of saying they don't get blind. ...Like that actor/comedian recently making the news again; going blind, and under his daughter's protection.

...
 
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NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
24,305
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
Super Information (mind-boggling @ fast data rate - computer/brain):

It's A Beautiful Blue Internet Planet We Live In | Information is Beautiful | World's Biggest Data Breaches
Latest Data Security Breach

The first link is a complete factual highway source of info on the full picture; each day that we have our computers turn on, and off.
{You can navigate limitless by clicking on any circle; it will bring you further and further in any and all directions.}

We are wired no matter what, even when wireless. There is no privacy escape, unless living in the forest in a beautiful house built atop a giant tree without electricity and cable. ...No phone line, not cell phone, no tablet, no laptop...just a stereo sound system, solar/wind/rain battery powered. ...No Ethernet jack in the back.

* If the tree is close to the ocean, lake, river, chute, ...you can use the water/wave to aliment the battery for generating/regulating/stabilizing your turbine and power your hi-fi stereo kit.
For groceries, there is a garden below the tree, with fruits and vegetables. You can also go fishing/sailing/hiking near by. The beach is totally private, not a soul living by for 300+ miles 360° all around. :b

Seriously, this is 2017...Twitter's world.
 
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audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
73
1,635
Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
As a result of this thread, I downloaded Firefox and added the add on to track the trackers (now called Lightbeam).

I turned on tracking protection and found out that when I log onto THIS site, the username and password are apparently NOT protected.

See the message I received below:

Screen Shot 2017-04-30 at 7.17.38 PM.png
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
24,305
1,323
435
Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
Ah, with IE I'm missing nothing (it starts with https:), and with Chrome I'm missing https:// (the 's' stands for secure by the way).

With both browsers AVSForum is the less secure audio/video site of all the ones I frequent/frequented (around 100).
It even says NOT SECURE! It's almost like being in jail and not having the choice to eat your own food.

* The browsers we use are also not secured. Google Chrome has been hacked before, and they spy on you, they collect your data and share it with undesirable advertisement companies, some real nasty ones. MSN is bad, very bad too.
I don't know if you guys get that sometimes too; phone calls with bad robots looking for trouble, to make your life miserable.
The police should put all those companies, the people working for them in jail. It is harassment, breaking the peace in your life.

I put some energy posting here because I feel violated big time by the Internet impeding on my privacy, stealing my passwords, my username, my identity, destroying my life's reputations, and the people's behind and supporting it, knowingly or blinded.
It concerns us all, and it goes against peace and happiness...two most profound important values on Earth. That's why I'm not only researching but also sharing.
I am extremely tired of seeing innocent people treated as criminals, very tired. There is no control on the Internet; it is majorly epidemic and unhealthy, often.
But the information side has also a tremendous benefit.

Brief it needs way better control, by the very best controllers; no drinking, no drugs, a clean state of mind by the some of the brightest people on cyber space working for the very best protection, security, privacy of our social/communication networks.
______

Here's an example; a company in order to save money in selling their products has no interest in securing their customer's accounts.
We know exactly what happens. It's no good, it's no good @ all. It reminds me the movie 'The Founder' with real-life Ray Kroc (a travelling salesman played by Michael Keaton) who stole the McDonald's name from Richard and Maurice McDonald, two good hard working brothers with good heart and good ideas.
yeah, that's exactly how it feels; Internet sharks looking to create chaos in your life by stealing everything you have, and don't; your dreams, your future ambitions, the desire to live in peace and in harmony with every human being having a good heart inside and a good spirit above.

Vertical Scope who now runs AVVSForum and HomeTheaterShack, plus hundreds of other websites, has been hacked all across few years ago, and all the people's privacy stolen.
But nobody goes in jail; the crimes continue like nothing ever happened. There are no laws to protect our privacy. The laws are protecting the crooks; that's in some part true.

It costs money to protect our privacy. The trackers tracking your data and sharing it with the advertisers scums of the world; the companies allowing that by not protecting their customer's private affairs, confidential credit card numbers, passwords, info that is no one's business...are contributing to criminal activities by giving access to the hackers of this world. Hacking will only slow down when the big companies are going to work for their customers, and not the hackers...by making it easier for them...IMO.

I'm no expert in computers and Internet; others are. And like I said before; most people don't share their concerns because they don't seem to be affected by it much...I guess.
Facebook apps are not all pink pretty, for example.
http://www.networkworld.com/article...st-internet-privacy-scandals-of-all-time.html

Facebook Apps

"The popular social media site has been plagued by privacy issues over the years. Its highest-profile problem was in October 2010, when Facebook admitted that its top 10 most popular applications including FarmVille and Texas Hold`em shared user data, including names and friends' names, with advertisers. A Wall Street Journal investigation uncovered the Facebook privacy breach and said it affected tens of millions of users, including some that had used Facebook's most stringent privacy settings. Facebook had previously been in trouble for transmitting user ID numbers to advertising companies when users clicked on ads. In November 2011, Facebook settled a case with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about several incidents and agreed to 20 years of third-party privacy audits (Also see: 10 must-know Facebook privacy/security settings.)"


And this: Webcamgate

"A Pennsylvania school district that used built-in Webcams to monitor the use of several thousand Apple laptops that it provided to students for their use at home ran afoul of online privacy issues and was forced to pay up. The school district admitted it had over 56,000 photos and screen grabs gathered by the Webcams and security software installed on the laptops. These photos were taken without the knowledge or consent of the students, including in their bedrooms and in various stages of undress. In April 2010, high school sophomore Blake Robbins filed a class action lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District for invasion of privacy. In October 2010, the school district agreed to pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits related to the incident."


This Hotmail Hot Mess

"One of the biggest privacy scandals in terms of scale involved Microsoft's Hotmail free e-mail service. In October 2009, Microsoft urged hundreds of millions of its Hotmail users to change their passwords due to a privacy breach. Microsoft said it discovered that users' details from 10,000 e-mail accounts were posted on the www.pastebin.com Web site as the result of a likely phishing scheme. Microsoft urged users of email accounts ending in @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com to begin changing their passwords every 90 days."


This: iPhone Tracking

"Apple received so much criticism about how its iPhones and iPads were collecting and storing user location data that then-CEO Steve Jobs made a rare apology in April 2011. Jobs conceded Apple's mistakes in dealing with the location data after security researchers discovered an unencrypted file inside the devices contained a cache of locations visited over the last 12 months. Jobs emphasized that Apple was not tracking its customers: "Never have. Never will," he said, in response to the criticism from Congress and others. Apple provided a free software update to users to fix the glitch. But that wasn't the last time that location data gathered by mobile devices from Wi-Fi hotspots has come under fire. Google and Microsoft later admitted that they store the same kind of user location data on their mobile operating systems, too. (Read "Rating apologies.")"


And: Google Street View

"In May 2007, Google added its Street View feature to Google Maps, and it has been battling privacy complaints, paying fines and facing audits ever since. Google Street View provides panoramic views of streets gathered by webcams. It prompted privacy worries for showing men leaving strip clubs, people entering adult bookstores, and people picking up prostitutes, among other activities. Google allows users to flag worrisome images for removal and added a blurring feature for faces and license plates. Nonetheless, Street Views has run into privacy battles with Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and South Korea, to name a few countries. France fined Google the equivalent of $142,000 in March 2011 related to Street Views, but an August 2011 review by the U.K. government gave Google positive marks for improving the privacy of Street View. Meanwhile, Google must undergo regular privacy audits mandated by the FTC for the next 20 years as the result of a settlement over improper privacy disclosures in its now-defunct Buzz social media service."

______

Before the Internet the hackers didn't have access to people's and companie's privacy, because without the Internet, the hawkers didn't exist.
The Internet provided everything; the good with the bad. ...The good use by the good people, and the other side of that flip coin.

To me, it's a major social issue. It goes to the roots of the dysfunctional people abusing the unprotected system.
Again, that film...'The Founder', Michael Keaton is truly great/funny. He talked about teamwork, family values, and Ray Kroc was one ironic/hypocrite/bad-shark-teeth sunnabaggun who walked the surface on Earth. He stole the private name of two good brothers, and everything else good they stood for. I won't tell anymore; you have to see the flick to realize that even in the fifties (before, after, today; it don't matter) your private life didn't even belong to you! Please see the film if you read that far, because breach of privacy it's all about that, and the consequences are/were devastating.
______

* With ASR (AudioScienceReview) there's no 's' @ the end of http:// from Microsoft IE web browser.
With Microsoft Edge, there's not even http:// ...And neither with Chrome.

You want https://www. etc @ the beginning of the URL addresses of the sites you frequent, for Security. 100% proof? I doubt it, not today with the kids from the world we all created since the beginning of the Big Bang. :b ...The flip side of Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, ...
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
73
1,635
Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
After I listened to the talk, I downloaded Firefox and added the add on (now called Lightbeam) to check how I am being “followed”. I visited one website and was tracked by 30 organizations.

In Firefox, you can do “Private Browsing”.

Here is what is says happens when you do:

Screen Shot 2017-05-01 at 8.37.38 AM.png

Only the individual user can decide if it is worth the effort !!

Here are my results from checking on how I am being tracked. As you can see, I have now visited 10 sites and am being tracked by 54 third party sites. (I was NOT doing Private Browsing when this occurred !!!)

Screen Shot 2017-05-01 at 8.40.51 AM.png

I have forwarded my results to many of my friends to see if we can figure out how to get the attention of someone who can do something about this!!
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
24,305
1,323
435
Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
Privacy On Any Web Browser | How To Turn On/Off

What beats me the most is the lack of security from all the big companies like Yahoo, Amazon, Twitter, Sony, Google, AOL, ...etc.
I don't know any major companies that are invulnerable in protecting their customer's privacy.

* Chuck, it is quite amazing the number of organizations tracking our browsing activity.
 

Barry2013

VIP/Donor
Oct 12, 2013
2,305
487
418
Essex UK
I use the private browser most of the time when visiting internet sites and it does make a difference.
I have also the free version of SuperAntispyware which is far better at picking up tracking cookies and enabling you to get rid of them.
If I visit ebay without using private browsing and then scan with the SuperAntispyware there wil frequently 2-300 tracking cookies it will get rid of. Norton 360 doesn't seem to bother with such tracking cookies.
 

SCAudiophile

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2010
1,156
435
1,205
Greer South Carolina (USA)
As a result of this thread, I downloaded Firefox and added the add on to track the trackers (now called Lightbeam).

I turned on tracking protection and found out that when I log onto THIS site, the username and password are apparently NOT protected.

See the message I received below:

View attachment 32233

Thanks for posting this...

Forum Moderators: Has this been fixed as of today???
 

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