Some delicious cookies

[jeeza]

I have here a few tracking cookies as found and identified by Ad-aware (I opened them into notepad and copy/pasted from there, the little black blocks translate into line breaks) :

id
8000002e94d9d93
doubleclick.net/
1024
3145084544
29824336
2498578240
29604060
*

AA002
1070385745-1846349213/1071595505
atdmt.com/
1024
2523873280
29971070
1838826656
29604089
*

MetriWeb
0001070369022.759581.4
metriweb.be/
1024
1667142400
29677475
4236318496
29604049
*

Does someone know what makes them tracking cookies ? How can you tell ?

[Paul Komski]

The essence of a tracking cookie is to (a) give you a unique id and (b) to be able to access this from multiple sites (using third party cookies rather than a cookie related only to the domain you are visiting). So each time there is, for example, a doubleclick ad or whatever on a webpage, there is feedback from the tracking cookie (the one with the unique id that identifies you) and this gets added to the doubleclick database. Hence your surfing havits are "tracked" and the ads you have explored are known and other stuff too.

"Super Cookies" (http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/supercookie.htm) have been able to use the unique id ascribed to Windows Media Player in a similar way - unless that vulnerablility has been addressed.

[jeeza]

And in that way, finally a very complete "profile" is put together about you.
ID of tracking cookies, ID of Windows Media Player, ID of Word documents (even Word doc files can be tracked to which computer they have been written on...)... whenever I think of the unsuspecting newcomer to the Internet, lured into "surfing" (what cynicism !) to some website, I am feeling almost some kind of pity...
Thanks for that info, Paul.
Is there any way of recognizing a tracking cookie, apart from knowing the URL displayed in its text ?

[david eaton]

If the URL in the cookie is not that of a site you have visited, then it is likely to be a tracking cookie.

They can be selectively blocked in IE, by refusing third party cookies. Can't remember how.

[Steve]

They can be selectively blocked in IE, by refusing third party cookies. Can't remember how.

Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced > Set "Third Party Cookies" to "Block". (ie6)

;)

[jeeza]

I routinely refuse third party cookies.
You can do that with Opera, and I think with Firebird and maybe with K-Meleon too.

[david eaton]

Thanks Steve.

I'm running firebird, and I've forgotten where half the options ae in IE!

[Steve]

After all the talk about Firebird I downloaded it about a week ago. I like it. They call it a BETA but it definatly seems ready for prime time. :)

[mjc]

:D

Steve.....yep.

Why are some peopl'es betas better than other's gold versions?

[Steve]

Steve.....yep.

Why are some peopl'es betas better than other's gold versions?


Some people are doing it out of interest...and others are doing it for money?