Jump to content
xisto Community
Sign in to follow this  
djphe

Hide Youself With Trackmenot!

Recommended Posts

Who is to say even this isn't some software that can benefit the provider of this program?

TrackMeNot runs in Firefox as a low-priority background process that periodically issues randomized search-queries to popular search engines, e.g., AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and MSN.

this above statement worries me a bit. By letting my FireFox to search periodically, will this be transparent in the background or will my browser actually run a search? And if so is there a hidden code that these random searches make deposits to perhaps the creator of this program?
In the age of clever spywares and hijackers I have to give these thoughts. It's only inevitable. The best solution is using caution and common sense when web surfing. Furthermore, chosing an option to clear cache and history when closing the web browser will help to protect info-hijackers.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You could of given us abit more about the program yourself. You sound like someone stood in a market centre trying to sell it.And it only works in FF :) Yaaay, they're gunna get all the viri!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

buffalo: you've got a point there :) but...

...it looks like this works kind of like bugmenot(.com) - instead of trying to make sites stop requiring registration , give out working user name and pass to everyone (though, for example, the NYT runs a script to figure out which accounts are listed on bugmenot and therefore have to be deleted...) or, as in this case: AOL is trying to create a profile of me by collecting my web searches [plus other technical means which might or might not be implemented/used]? I'll make this as hard as possible by giving fake data which will result in a wrong profile of me...

I couldn't find anything about TrackMeNot talking back to its developers but I suppose this could be figured out by watching the connections Firefox opens (well, this bases on some assupmtions I made: a) Firefox does not open connections on its own :P you log all the connections you open, including IP addresses to be connected to --well, this is hard to do by hand; I suggest to use a script for that-- c) darn, I forgot :/). An easier way to figure this out would be to publish the source code...

Who is to say even this isn't some software that can benefit the provider of this program?

Enters: Paranoia. How do we know OpaQue doesn't run algorithms to search the Xisto board and sells the data he's collecting about us to the CIA?

Furthermore, chosing an option to clear cache and history when closing the web browser will help to protect info-hijackers.

Yes, this is one of the things you can do to keep your privacy on the safer side - but this is not the point where TMN steps in. I doubt that AOL accesses your browser's cache and history [we're talking about software. If there's data, there's a way to access it], they simply collect your web searches...

And it only works in FF

That's the way I would have taken as well since I'm using FF and it's not too hard to write extensions. Someone might find an interest in porting it to other browsers or write a stand-alone program. Consider its version: 0.4.2; this is usually way from the beta testing stage, not to mention the first tested/stable release (1.0)...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

yea how are we supposed to kmow this is'nt another spyware , everyone hates spyware but i would hate more to have a spyware help me get rid of spyware ,as buffalo pointed it is best to use caution and common sense while surfing the web ,also i like the feature in google which gives a warning if i am about to enter a site that possibly contains spyware or malware ,even though google it self has to find out one by one sites containing spyware or malware , it has already prevented me from visiting a dozen sites when google gave out a warning

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.