They ARE watching and tracking us

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Red circles are 'known' tracking sites. Gray circles are not 'known' but 'may be' tracking.

I did not even know blueknight911.com existed until I saw it on the graphic. I'll accept the fact that Mike is not knowingly or deliberately tracking anyone. It's obvious he was as surprised by this as I was, and a whole lot more upset! But that does not negate the fact that some internet software somewhere is, according to Disconnect, sending some sort of data to the server that hosts Mike website. At the very worst I thought maybe it was being done out of curiosity! After all, he does want to sell stuff to SL members, and there's not a thing wrong or bad about that! The big mystery is why does his web site show up in the list of sites that are informed when I visit SL and no one else's like Doc Humphrey's roadsterrenovations.info, or Lamont's lamonstergarage.com? I looked at the source code for his web page and don't find anything there that requests tracking information. But there's a whole lot more behind the scenes that the hosting company controls.

If we all got up in arms about Internet tracking like Mike has about this revelation the Internet world might back off and pay more respect for our privacy. If nothing else, this thread has probably made all of us a whole lot more aware about just how sinister the Internet system is in picking up bits of personal information about us all.

I'm sorry Mike you were offended by this information, but believe me, I did not do it with any malicious intent at all.

Apology accepted ........ I contacted my Web-master and He told me my site isn't tracking ANYONE ........ He also said " Dis-Connect " is actually tracking YOU ( something to think about ) ..... Sometimes having a little bit of knowledge can be a Dangerous thing .... People read things and get the Wrong message , whether it was intended or not ...... For example tell me what the right answer is to this question ..... " HAVE YOU STOPPED BEATING YOUR WIFE " ????? ..... No matter how you answer that - you are guilty - period ..........So to everyone out there be careful what you say and how you say it ................. I'll try to follow that also ...... Mike

[Richardv]

Red circles are 'known' tracking sites. Gray circles are not 'known' but 'may be' tracking.

I did not even know blueknight911.com existed until I saw it on the graphic. I'll accept the fact that Mike is not knowingly or deliberately tracking anyone. It's obvious he was as surprised by this as I was, and a whole lot more upset! But that does not negate the fact that some internet software somewhere is, according to Disconnect, sending some sort of data to the server that hosts Mike website. At the very worst I thought maybe it was being done out of curiosity! After all, he does want to sell stuff to SL members, and there's not a thing wrong or bad about that! The big mystery is why does his web site show up in the list of sites that are informed when I visit SL and no one else's like Doc Humphrey's roadsterrenovations.info, or Lamont's lamonstergarage.com? I looked at the source code for his web page and don't find anything there that requests tracking information. But there's a whole lot more behind the scenes that the hosting company controls.

If we all got up in arms about Internet tracking like Mike has about this revelation the Internet world might back off and pay more respect for our privacy. If nothing else, this thread has probably made all of us a whole lot more aware about just how sinister the Internet system is in picking up bits of personal information about us all.

I'm sorry Mike you were offended by this information, but believe me, I did not do it with any malicious intent at all.

....if you use a tracking software that you don't know how to use, at least, don't talk about it, and don't " accuse" peoples of things you don't even know are real or the fruit of your imagination....!!!! ... imho

[canamjhb]

I'm happy that deep breath and cocktail seems to have had good results. I am relatively new here but have gleaned a lot of good stuff from you more seasoned Spyder riders. And, you never know where you will find a good morsel of information (Thank you Joel). A long time ago when I was just starting a long career in the financial service industry, one of my bosses gave me advice that has stuck with me to this day. He said, "Never put anything in writing that you would not want read in open court.......with your Grandmother in the jury".

[2dogs]

Called "ICU". Actually one of the grandkids showed it to me. When someone is logged into the same site you're logged into you (I) can switch over to ICU and actually see the person who is tracking you. Just how it works I have no idea, but it only works when someone is tracking you. I guess it turns the other person's screen into a two way screen or something like a two way mirror. Hi there Mike, I can see you now. This gives these conversations a little more of that personal touch now that we can see who we're communicating with.

[T.P.]

Looking at posts on this forum tonight. I took a break and make a cocktail without logging off. Came back to my desk and sat down. My computer suddenly started a "Skidoo" audio commercial without me touching a thing. What the......??? I suppose Can Am knows it is too hot here to ride the Spyder so now I should be out on the lake. HMMMMMMM

Funny that you guy's didn't pick up on what was said above.

Why would BRP be playing an audio SNOWMOBILE ad in the middle of Summer in Arizona?

T.P.

[ARtraveler]

There is a lot of information that one can determine from doing "research" in the statistics on this site. Including tracking of individual members going back to day one. Been here since 2/2010. Have over 30,000 posts. You can find it all. The same information can be found for anyone on the site.

The site always shows who is on and what they are looking at currently.

I find the information useful and am glad it is there. I am usually pretty careful about what I say when I post...although I have gone back and used "edit" or "delete" a couple times.

The archives are good for finding specific information. Very helpful for those that like to help others or for those searching for information.

[Flanker]

You may already be aware of this app; if you are I apologize in advance for boring you.

CCleaner by Piriform, I get mine (the free version--there is a pay for it upgrade if you want it) from FileHippo.com, or I'm pretty sure it'll be available at Piriform, and/or other sites I don't know about. There are a ton of options to allow you to customize it's operation to your needs (Temporary internet files, tracking cookies, browser history, deleted files etc in the trash bin, recently typed URLs, download history, as examples of the dozens of things it will check and scrub for you).

The short version of CCleaner's (it used to be called Crap Cleaner--hence the current name) operations is; not only does it analyze all the places, items, apps, and other stuff on your comp that you've checked off, it securely scrubs all the built up crap (INCLUDING TRACKING COOKIES) in those areas with a binary overwrite (multiple options, from 1 to 35 passes) and secure deletion. Keeps the crap build up down on your HDD or SSD, and your comp running a bit faster.

I've been using it since 2008 (Piriform updates it very regularly and YOU SHOULD TOO!) with no problems.

I DO NOT recommend you use it's registry cleaner function! As with most of these allegedly helpful registry cleaners/repair apps you can install more problems than you cure! That is no ! You've been warned!

If you don't think you're competent to use it; DON'T!

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Mike, I finally figured out what's happening. Believe it or not it's the picture in your signature at the bottom of your posts! I cleared all the cookies out of my browser, came back to this page, and Disconnect once again said information was being sent to your web site. But information is in fact NOT being sent to your web site, but a request to fetch an image is.

Here is the pertinent line of code for this forum page.

<blockquote class="signature restore"><div class="signaturecontainer"><img src="http://blueknight911.com/images/smlogo100.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div></blockquote>

What this line does is this. Lamont's code for the page says to restore the signature. When it restores your signature it reaches out to your website to retrieve the image for your signature. When you set up your signature here in the forum you referenced your logo image on your website. The Disconnect plugin sees this call to your web site and flags it as if information is being sent to your web site. The Ghostery plugin apparently ignores these kinds of calls. So there actually is contact from SL to your website whenever an SL forum page is loaded that contains your signature logo, but it is a very inconsequential contact. It definitely is not a tracking call. It's just a request to, "Send me Mike's logo!" It would be nice if Disconnect was a little more explicit in describing the contacts between websites. At least I know now not to take Disconnect's description so literally! Making contact does not equate to tracking!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike, I finally figured out what's happening. Believe it or not it's the picture in your signature at the bottom of your posts! I cleared all the cookies out of my browser, came back to this page, and Disconnect once again said information was being sent to your web site. But information is in fact NOT being sent to your web site, but a request to fetch an image is.

Here is the pertinent line of code for this forum page.



What this line does is this. Lamont's code for the page says to restore the signature. When it restores your signature it reaches out to your website to retrieve the image for your signature. When you set up your signature here in the forum you referenced your logo image on your website. The Disconnect plugin sees this call to your web site and flags it as if information is being sent to your web site. The Ghostery plugin apparently ignores these kinds of calls. So there actually is contact from SL to your website whenever an SL forum page is loaded that contains your signature logo, but it is a very inconsequential contact. It definitely is not a tracking call. It's just a request to, "Send me Mike's logo!" It would be nice if Disconnect was a little more explicit in describing the contacts between websites. At least I know now not to take Disconnect's description so literally! Making contact does not equate to tracking!

........... Thank you for this info - I will be forwarding it to my WebMaster ...........Footnote - Being accused ( and stating that someone is Doing something is the same as accused ) of something You Did not or Are not Doing is VERY damaging to a persons Reputation, unfortunately people seem to believe EVERYTHING they read on the Internet as if it came from GOD ...... This was / is why I was Sooooooooooooooooo upset ....some here may claim I'm WAY over-blowing this, and this may be because it's Not happening to THEM and unless it happens to THEM it's not really important ....... Again I thank you for this added clarification of my NON - tracking ....... Mike