Invasion of the web trackers

Here’s how you can thwart websites from tracking your every movement.

 

THERE are several reasons that your Windows 10 PC is overrun by web trackers, bits of software code that follow you online to help marketers learn more about you.

The money trail

Nearly all commercial websites use them to create an elaborate profile of your tastes and habits, a profile that the websites can use themselves or sell to others.

Your online movements are tracked by cookies (bits of code left in your web browser), Google and Facebook tracker software (that follows you even when you aren’t on their websites), session recorders (that record everything you do on a website), key-loggers (that record what you type into text boxes on a website, even if you don’t submit anything), beacons (invisible objects in a web page that record how many times you viewed that page) and “fingerprinting” (a record of the technical details of your computer that can be used to identify you.)

While privacy advocates are aware of web trackers, most people aren’t. As a result, web tracking keeps expanding.

A recent study showed that 87% of the most popular websites now track your movements, whether you sign in to the website or not (see tinyurl.com/yyy5qyas).

You can view the web trackers on any website at tinyurl.com/y2em59e6.

Also, Windows 10 may indeed attract more web tracker software, because it collects more personal information about you than earlier versions of Windows did.

Microsoft shares some of that information with advertisers.

Throw it off track

Until recently, web browsers didn’t offer much protection against web tracking.

The latest versions of the four most popular browsers – Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari – have improved (but not perfect) anti-tracking features.

A reviewer of the latest Safari browser reported that it blocked 90 web trackers in five minutes of online activity.

But be sure your browser’s anti-tracking features are turned on.

Also, adjust the privacy settings in Windows 10.

The Windows 10 settings you may want to change include the “advertising ID” (monitors your online travels for advertisers), “location tracking” (helps advertisers localise what they promote to you), “Timeline” (keeps track of what you’re doing so that you can switch from one PC to another without interruption) and Cortana, the Windows 10 digital assistant (monitors your location, email, contacts, and calendar, and keeps a record of every “chat” you’ve had with Cortana).

You can also add more anti-tracking add-ons to your web browser.

Top-rated add-ons include Duckduckgo Privacy Essentials, Privacy Badger and Ghostery. – Star Tribune/tribune News Service - By STEVEN ALEXANDER

Trying to stop the invasion of the web trackers | Star Tribune

 

How cookies can track you (Simply Explained)

https://youtu.be/wefD2N-GWUo

Have you ever wondered how websites and apps track you on the net? Why do other websites show you advertisements from Amazon about exactly the product you looked at before? How does online tracking work? We explain to you how Google, Facebook and Co track you on the Internet. What is your opinion about online tracking? Write it in the comments... 

 

What Google & Co know about you | Online Tracking

 

https://youtu.be/iB9l56j4mg8 

 

Tech Q&A: Trying to stop the invasion of the web trackers ...

 

How to stop your emails from being tracked - The Verg

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US adopts blinkered view of TikTok

TikTok, a global music and video platform created in 2016 by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, is known in China as Douyin. Photo: VCG

A Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday focused on discussions about the significant risks that short-form social video app TikTok could pose to US national security and citizens' privacy.

The accusations about TikTok are based on the assumption that its parent company ByteDance may hand over personal information of the app's US users to the Chinese government, thus posing huge risks to users and the country. In addition, there are also claims that TikTok censors content. TikTok denies both charges.

TikTok runs its business according to US law, so how can it threaten US national security? Many people believe that the US is using this as an excuse to crack down on this globally successful Chinese social media app. To date, all popular social media platforms have been created by US companies, but TikTok is an exception. It challenges their monopoly and some American elites are uncomfortable about it.

Over the past 12 months, TikTok's app has been downloaded more than 750 million times, compared with 715 million for Facebook, 450 million for Instagram and 300 million for YouTube. Its success has even worried Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and now Facebook is developing a short video sharing application that mimics TikTok.

It's not a good trait for the US to suppress competitors of American companies by political means. Washington has taken extreme measures against Huawei, such as cutting off the supply of some components, a move that cracks down on competitors at the expense of hurting domestic companies. There are signs that TikTok is the next target. What the US is doing is driven by extreme protectionism and runs counter to a free market economy.

Washington elites should think about that. US-developed social networking sites are popular around the world. Any country can use the same concerns US lawmakers have about TikTok to target Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Without any evidence, if every country conjured up risks to challenge those companies, would the world ever be able to share common applications? If such national security principles were to be promoted globally, US internet giants would suffer the most.

The US internet market is becoming solidified. Americans are supposed to welcome competition from TikTok. China's internet market has changed tremendously in recent years with JD challenging the dominance of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, followed by the rise of strong players such as TikTok and PDD, which boost the dynamics of the Chinese internet market. The US shouldn't suppress competition and encourage idleness.

Despite being the strongest country in the world, the US often accuses others of being national security risks. It uses political means to safeguard its existing interests when its technology falls short. But this approach will affect how Americans view modern competition and how American society participates in international competition. In the long run, some American companies may use dishonest practices, not better technology and innovation, in the international marketplace.

The US should carefully study the TikTok phenomenon and learn from it. TikTok has its own algorithm, but it pays close attention to abiding by laws and customs of the countries where it is carrying out business activities. When in Rome, do as the Romans do - this is a universal rule for business activities. All US social media giants have the opportunity to enter the Chinese market if they follow that rule.

We hope the US won't go to extremes. Being open is where US interests lie. Even if they have worries about TikTok, they must exercise restraint. Many people are worried that the US might monitor them through various means every day, but they are restrained and rational. The US has no reason not to do likewise.

Source link
 

RELATED ARTICLES:

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Zero-sum mind-set won't inspire US AI development

Rational voices have been calling for China-US cooperation in AI, an area where they have overlapping interests. Instead of viewing AI with a zero-sum mind-set, the US should embrace healthy competition with China for the good of the world. 

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US adopts blinkered view of TikTok

TikTok, a global music and video platform created in 2016 by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, is known in China as Douyin. Photo: VCG

A Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday focused on discussions about the significant risks that short-form social video app TikTok could pose to US national security and citizens' privacy.

The accusations about TikTok are based on the assumption that its parent company ByteDance may hand over personal information of the app's US users to the Chinese government, thus posing huge risks to users and the country. In addition, there are also claims that TikTok censors content. TikTok denies both charges.

TikTok runs its business according to US law, so how can it threaten US national security? Many people believe that the US is using this as an excuse to crack down on this globally successful Chinese social media app. To date, all popular social media platforms have been created by US companies, but TikTok is an exception. It challenges their monopoly and some American elites are uncomfortable about it.

Over the past 12 months, TikTok's app has been downloaded more than 750 million times, compared with 715 million for Facebook, 450 million for Instagram and 300 million for YouTube. Its success has even worried Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and now Facebook is developing a short video sharing application that mimics TikTok.

It's not a good trait for the US to suppress competitors of American companies by political means. Washington has taken extreme measures against Huawei, such as cutting off the supply of some components, a move that cracks down on competitors at the expense of hurting domestic companies. There are signs that TikTok is the next target. What the US is doing is driven by extreme protectionism and runs counter to a free market economy.

Washington elites should think about that. US-developed social networking sites are popular around the world. Any country can use the same concerns US lawmakers have about TikTok to target Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Without any evidence, if every country conjured up risks to challenge those companies, would the world ever be able to share common applications? If such national security principles were to be promoted globally, US internet giants would suffer the most.

The US internet market is becoming solidified. Americans are supposed to welcome competition from TikTok. China's internet market has changed tremendously in recent years with JD challenging the dominance of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, followed by the rise of strong players such as TikTok and PDD, which boost the dynamics of the Chinese internet market. The US shouldn't suppress competition and encourage idleness.

Despite being the strongest country in the world, the US often accuses others of being national security risks. It uses political means to safeguard its existing interests when its technology falls short. But this approach will affect how Americans view modern competition and how American society participates in international competition. In the long run, some American companies may use dishonest practices, not better technology and innovation, in the international marketplace.

The US should carefully study the TikTok phenomenon and learn from it. TikTok has its own algorithm, but it pays close attention to abiding by laws and customs of the countries where it is carrying out business activities. When in Rome, do as the Romans do - this is a universal rule for business activities. All US social media giants have the opportunity to enter the Chinese market if they follow that rule.

We hope the US won't go to extremes. Being open is where US interests lie. Even if they have worries about TikTok, they must exercise restraint. Many people are worried that the US might monitor them through various means every day, but they are restrained and rational. The US has no reason not to do likewise.

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Facebook delves into Cryptocurrency, the Libra coin plan

Cryptocurrency and Facebook logo are seen together in this photo. Photo: IC 

https://youtu.be/eAPLA4oy7Ks

Experts raise concerns over privacy and regulation

Facebook unveiled plans Tuesday for a new global cryptocurrency called Libra, pledging to deliver stable virtual money that lives on smartphones and could bring over a billion "unbanked" people into the financial system.

The Libra coin plan, backed by financial and nonprofit partners, represents an ambitious new initiative for the world's biggest social network with the potential to bring crypto-money out of the shadows and into the mainstream.

Facebook and some two dozen partners released a prototype of Libra as an open source code for developers interested in weaving it into apps, services or businesses ahead of a rollout as global digital money next year.

The nonprofit Libra Association based in Geneva will oversee the blockchain-based coin, maintaining a real-world asset reserve to keep its value stable.

The Libra Association's Dante Disparte said it could offer online commerce and financial services at minimal cost to more than a billion "unbanked" people - adults without bank accounts or those who use services outside the banking system such as payday loans to make ends meet.

"We believe if you give people access to money and opportunity at the lowest cost, the way the internet itself did in the past with information, you can create a lot more stability than we have had up until now," Disparte, head of policy and communications, told AFP.

Facebook will be just one voice among many in the association, but is separately building a digital wallet called Calibra.

"We view this as a complement to Facebook's mission to connect people wherever they are; that includes allowing them to exchange value," Calibra vice president of operations Tomer Barel told AFP.

"Many people who use Facebook are in countries where there are barriers to banking or credit."

But the move raised questions about how such a new money would be regulated, with one lawmaker calling for a pause on Libra.

"Given the company's troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues," said Maxine Waters, chair of the financial services committee in the US House of Representatives.

Meanwhile French Finance Minister Bruno le Maire said such digital money could never replace sovereign currencies.

"The aspect of sovereignty must stay in the hands of states and not private companies which respond to private interests," Le Maire told Europe 1 radio.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Facebook's new currency would have to withstand scrutiny of its operational resilience and not allow itself to be used for money laundering or terror financing.

ING economists Teunis Brosens and Carlo Cocuzzo said in a research note it was not clear what Libra was or how it might be overseen while US Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and banking committee member, voiced concerns over Facebook's checkered record on protecting users' privacy.

Backed by real cash

Libra Association debuted with 28 members including Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, Kiva, PayPal, Lyft, Uber and Women's World Banking.

Calibra is being built into Facebook's Messenger and WhatsApp with a goal of letting users send Libra as easily as they might fire off a text message.

Libra learned from the many other cryptocurrencies that have preceded it such as bitcoin and is designed to avoid the roller-coaster valuations that have attracted speculation and caused ruin.

Real-world currency will go into a reserve backing the digital money, the value of which will mirror stable currencies such as the US dollar and the euro, according to its creators.

"It is backed by a reserve of assets that ensures utility and low volatility," Barel said.

The Libra Association will be the only entity able to "mint or burn" the digital currency, maintaining supply in tune with demand and assets in reserve, according to Barel.

"It is not about trusting Facebook, it is effectively trust in the association's founding organizations that this is independent and democratic," Disparte said.

New directions

The launch comes with Facebook seeking to move past a series of lapses on privacy and data protection that have tarnished its image and sparked scrutiny from regulators around the world.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has promised a new direction for Facebook built around smaller groups, private messaging and payments.

The new Calibra digital wallet promises eventually to give Facebook opportunities to build financial services into its offerings, offer to expand its own commerce and let more small businesses buy ads on the social network.

"We certainly see long-term value for Facebook," Barel said.

Facebook said it would not make any money through Libra or Calibra, but rather was seeking to "drive adoption and scale" before exploring ways to monetize the new system.

Financial information at Calibra will be kept strictly separate from social data on Facebook and won't be used to target ads, Calibra vice president of product Kevin Weil told AFP.

Libra will be a regulated currency, subject to local laws in markets regarding fraud, guarding against money laundering and more, Weil said.

'Watershed' moment?

According to Facebook and its partners, local currencies and Libra may be swapped at currency exchange houses or other businesses.

And the ubiquity of smartphones means digital wallets for Libra could make banking and credit card services and e-commerce available in places where they don't now exist.

Analyst and cryptocurrency investor Lou Kerner said Facebook's move has the potential to open the door for cryptocurrency to a wider public.

"What Facebook is really good at, is making things really simple to use," Kerner told AFP.

"And that's what is super exciting for the crypto industry, is somebody comes along who understands user experience and has billions of users that they can roll this out to."

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