Ok WTF is with Facebook associating ATS members?

Alright awhile back I seen a thread about someone who claimed that facebook was suggesting ATS members to them. I tried to come up with reasonable explanations and then the thread eventually died.

So today I log onto facebook, and I use it for practically nothing other than keeping in touch with old friends from college and school. In my suggestions box was "Djarums ATS" it caught my eye simply because of ATS. And to be honest, I had never heard of Djarums, so I clicked on his name and noticed his picture.

Quickly flipped tabs over to ATS and searched for that member, sure enough, super moderator. I use seperate e-mails for Facebook/ATS, I am not associated with any other ATS members on FB, and I can't think of any other links.

So why is FB suggesting fellow ATS members to us? The only thing that I have been able to conclude in the last few minutes, is the fact that I have sent ATS links to friends who aren't members on the site. FB sees that I visit the website, they then suggest known ATS members (according to them) to me on FB.

Does anyone agree with this conclusion, or have a better idea on how this could be happening? Any thoughts welcome.

You could take the real conspiratorial alternative that Facebook has an ATS member database so that TPTB can keep track of what all these domestic terrorists are doing in their personal lives.

Be a good way to stop action groups / protests etc. before they happen.

Or, your idea is probably the most likely. But go with whatever

Originally posted by fooffstarr
You could take the real conspiratorial alternative that Facebook has an ATS member database so that TPTB can keep track of what all these domestic terrorists are doing in their personal lives.

Well unlike some, I don't put what I am doing on FB, or select "attending" this event or that event. So I dunno how much could be learned from my page that any PTB wouldn't already know.

But regardless, how do they draw the links when there is no e-mail connection? ATS would have to be sharing our IP addresses directly with FB, to make a solid link.

reply to post by king9072


Not necessarily.

To go even deeper into the tin foil, as others have said in the past, who's to say that ATS and FB/Myspace etc. aren't all products of [insert name here] evil group to keep tabs on people?

They have the Facebooks for the mainstream herd, and things like ATS and GLP for the slightly unhinged of us in society who don't just chase the thrown stick.

They wouldn't need to share anything because the information would be compiled into a single database.

/Nutjob rant completed.

Unfortunatly I can answer your question king...

Do an ATS search of the latest threads involving face book.


Someone recently posted an article detailing Face books T&C.

Once you sign up for face book they have the right to search YOU!.


If you give them an email addy they can look at where else your email addy is registered. DONT GIVE THEM THE PASSWORD!

If you did its comprimised...

It is all clearly detailed in the fine print.

Facebook is worse than myspace...... evilist so far but I am sure the worst is still to come...

To put it another way... My wife was offered a friend subscribe to one of my ex girlfriends....


Face book looks into your past... into your accounts... dont use face book if you can at all avoid it.



ME.....??? I have family in the republic of Dominic.....Med school.

I love my family... as soon as they move I quit... in the mean time I take limited measures and communicate via facebook infrequently.



Face book sucks

[edit on 18-7-2009 by titorite]

Actually it all has to do with your browser.

Even if you routinely clear the cache, there are Web2.0 scripts that can be run server-side, to determine the last dozen sites you have visited. That means even if your browser has a plugin like No-Scripts or you have JavaScript disabled, it still works.

If you don't believe me, try this:

1.) Install a third-party browser on your computer like Opera, Chrome, Firefox, etc.

2.) Use that third-party browser to create a Facebook Profile identical to the one you have now.

3.) Login and out of your Facebook account a couple of times and see if the ATS suggestions come up (they won't).

4.) Open your regular browser (probably Internet Explorer if you are on Windows, Safari if you are on a Mac, or Konqueror if you are on Linux) and log into ATS, and then log in to your Facebook Account. Note that the ATS suggestions come up now.

5.) Verify by opening your 3rd Party Browser and logging into Facebook. Unless they write that session data to their database, it should come up without the same ATS suggestions as before. Now, use the 3rd Party Browser to go to ATS and then go back to Facebook. Voila! The ATS suggestions all of a sudden appear, even in another browser!


Welcome to the world of no privacy!

Okay, it's not exactly about any link between FB and ATS specifically, but bear with me.

I became aware of this website Quantcast months ago, because every single page my husband tried to open in his browser was redirecting to it! It was so freaky.

Anyway, they seem to have LOTS of information about user demographics for websites and I have no idea yet how they procure that information. Just search for a website and you can see all sorts of information (even more I suppose, if you pay them). Under the 'Lifestyle' tab, you can see stuff like "Users also visit" and "Users also search for".

It's quite scary to me. Just thought I'd throw this out there for perhaps a little more insight into information gathering for marketing and such.

Edited to add:

THANKS fraterormus! Very useful info.

[edit on 7/18/2009 by eMachine]

reply to post by king9072



I had a huge set up on facebook with hundreds of pictures - I deleted them all and totally deleted my account, when they were going to keep all the stuff as their own to do what they want with - a few months ago.

I don't need to broadcast everything I am doing and show pictures of my house and family.

I think facebook - is a good way of keeping tabs on who is who and who associates with who.

That is just my own opinion

Hey,

Yeah i logged on to facebook oneday and it suggested a member named "Above Top Secret". It was really random because I had not been on ATS in a while. What is up with that for real? I messaged the person even... did not get a response....

Originally posted by eMachine
I became aware of this website Quantcast months ago, because every single page my husband tried to open in his browser was redirecting to it! It was so freaky.

How companies like Quantcast do it is with Adware/Spyware and with Persistent Tracking Cookies. This is now considered the "Old Skool" way of tracking users on the Web. Web2.0 Applications, such as Facebook, can do this without Cookies. It's pretty scary.

You can disable Cookies altogether in your browser, but considering almost every modern website uses Cookies, you browsing experience will be greatly hindered as most websites will not function properly without them. (Basically if a site requires a login or has a shopping cart, then it definitely uses Cookies.)

I'm one of those borderline paranoid Internet Users who practices "Safe" browsing habits. I clear my cache several times a day. I delete my Browser Cookies at the end of every session. Still, if I were to run Spybot Search & Destroy I routinely find anywhere from a dozen to 80 Persistent Tracking Cookies on my computer.

The fact that every page you browse to opens a Quantcast page though should be troubling. I'd run Spybot Search & Destroy (or any other Anti-Spyware program of repute, like AdAware) and remove the Adware/Spyware that is installed on your system (and double check your HOSTS file to make sure they haven't altered that too).

As far as using Social Networking Sites such as MySpace, Facebook and the such, know that everything you post can and will be used against you. It's okay to use them as long as you don't post anything on them that you don't want to be public knowledge. It has been shown time and time again that what people post on their Social Networking Sites have been used by potential employers, their current employers, Insurance Companies, and even by Law Enforcement. Deleting your profiles on these sites won't help you either, as all of them retain that information indefinitely (and with Facebook, it is still indexed and searchable externally to their site, even though your profile is deleted).

After all, why does an Intelligence Agency need to spend money on Domestic Surveillance when people are willing to volunteer that information and post it themselves on their Social Networking Sites? If you are truly paranoid, you can even use that to your advantage by using the Social Networking Sites as a form of Disinformation against the system by publishing knowingly false and misleading information about yourself.





[edit on 18-7-2009 by fraterormus]

My FaceBook acount shows [snip] all...

I didn't even go about creating it myself neither i bothered at all with it.

In response to qestioningall's post in fact i will immediately go and delete the [snip]since i do not know what was put up there by my friend for me.

What has been of special shock to me tonight is the following.

As a few of you will know i recently had put up a thread about some attrocities commited to some animals of the wet kingdom of the seas...
Its the one at the ending of the first line in my signature.

Well guess what...!!!

I did write to the EUropean Ombudsman after all and they kindly replied in formal chit chat and jargon.
Sure i was honoured to get a detailed answer that was polite and everything to the last detail. Bear with me for a second here...

Alltogether the conclusion whithin the multitude of protective directives they atached suggested that they were not responsible for the matter at hand since their main responsibility is to police the good operation of all european operations and organisations and that since the Faroe Island are a precinct of the Dutch that does not belong to the EU they cannot do anything....

WOW let me stop here for a second since there's lots of surpise to come!

They are responsible for all the organisations and their good operation?
But not responsible for this?
Not responsible for forwarding this to the appropriate organisation?
Unable to exert political presures on the matter?
Closed eyes on the oportunity to check if the appropriate organisation responds up to their expectations to a problem brought forward?


Whatever! I had to give them a reply asking them to direct me to the appropriate organisation as if that was not within their responsibilities alltogether.

At last i got a reply that pointed me towards a direcion ....

THE BIG SURPRISE COMES HERE!

And this is where it all related to this thread and another couple one i have seen in ATS.

I sent the organisation i was pointed to the exact same email i sent to the EUropean Ombudsman with the only change being a better justification of my reason for contacting them. In effect a copy and paste!

For reasons of my own organisation i sent cc copy to my own/spare account.
As i was checking my mail there was my spare copy.
While speaking with my better half i reply to her request as to what this was and she was moved since she never bore to actually see the thread.
So she goes to ask me what my two links in the letter were.

They actually were links to my thread and the HOME documantary featured by YouTube. GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!????????!!!!!!!!!!!!

Within my first link wich was the one to this site and my thread the YouTube video was dead and removed due to violation of terms.... so that i cannot make my point as strong as it would be in protecting our future and biodiversity.

The second link that lead to HOME now leads to a page that affirms PRIVATE CONTENT ! as if i was some pervert having fun with the authorities.

Conclusion?

My case is wasted rendered pointless and useless making an a[snip] out of me.....

WHY?

My oppinion?

ATTENTION WE ARE BEING MANIPULATED BIG TIME!!!

I haven't decided yet but i guess i will make a matter of it within ATS whether in the same thread or a new specialised one.

In the meantime i hope this post will not be removed since it is certainly NOT OFF TOPIC but additionaly shows the extend of our manipulation as flaged by this thread, and the various ways this manipulation takes place.

I think it is about time we webusers start a movement about this all to protect us from the few and fierce...

LOVE to ALL

GTG



Mod Edit - Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 19-7-2009 by elevatedone]

The second link that lead to HOME now leads to a page that affirms PRIVATE CONTENT ! as if i was some pervert having fun with the authorities.

HOME is a fresh and famous documentary on our plannet.

Just type HOME in youtube and it will be within the top results.

One of the best i have ever seen to help me make a point.

Ohhhh..... By the way: FACEBOOK ACCOUNT DELETED. RIP FACEBOOK!

reply to post by fraterormus


Hold up. Where are these "web 2.0" things? I do many many things with _javascript. I can easily serve up the entire ATS website to users from a single page through _javascript commands, in what looks like a windows OS. I have code that will literally create taskbars and windows etc on a single page(but the data and such is refined to web content etc, can't run a program on it).

So I have a bit of experience with these things. And I have never seen anything that would allow me to do the things you are talking about.

The only thing that would allow such things that I'm aware of would be a toolbar or plugin. Then they could track everything you do. I would never install a plugin to your browser from such a place. But that has nothing to do with _javascript or anything else.

If you have information to the contrary on how such things are able to be done, I'd love to see a link/source.

I don't have a facebook account. But I have read they get your email list and such. So, if another person has your email and an email from someone on ATS, they could link them up. Or what was said about posting a link to someone, they could have read that, seen another person posted a link to the same site and made a connection

I got an email from facebook "inviting me" to join them and they said it was from some person, and I had no idea who that person was. It then also said you might know these people and showed that persons friends or something.



[edit on 7/18/2009 by badmedia]

Originally posted by GEORGETHEGREEK
Ohhhh..... By the way: FACEBOOK ACCOUNT DELETED. RIP FACEBOOK!

OK now type your username and password in FB and see if its gone coz I cant seem to deleete mine.

Originally posted by badmedia
If you have information to the contrary on how such things are able to be done, I'd love to see a link/source.

Web2.0 are applications that use a Client/Server Interface outside of just the browser, to provide a more "collaborative, interactive environment" than the traditional Web. Generally these are apps built on the Ajax, Soap, or common APIs. They can be used to run apps locally, even outside of the browser on the client-side, or run apps server-side unbeknown to the browser.

Here are some sites that show how this can be done, either using Web2.0 Tools or doing it in ways outside of the traditional browser box.

Browser Sniffing Without Javascript

Using Locally Stored Ojects - Flash Cookies, the Silent Privacy Killer

Your Browser History is Showing Proof in Concept using both traditional Javascript and server-side Web2.0 Apps to retrieve Browser History outside of what is cached in your Browser.

Originally posted by fraterormus
Actually it all has to do with your browser.

Even if you routinely clear the cache, there are Web2.0 scripts that can be run server-side, to determine the last dozen sites you have visited. That means even if your browser has a plugin like No-Scripts or you have JavaScript disabled, it still works.

If you don't believe me, try this:

1.) Install a third-party browser on your computer like Opera, Chrome, Firefox, etc.

2.) Use that third-party browser to create a Facebook Profile identical to the one you have now.

3.) Login and out of your Facebook account a couple of times and see if the ATS suggestions come up (they won't).

4.) Open your regular browser (probably Internet Explorer if you are on Windows, Safari if you are on a Mac, or Konqueror if you are on Linux) and log into ATS, and then log in to your Facebook Account. Note that the ATS suggestions come up now.

5.) Verify by opening your 3rd Party Browser and logging into Facebook. Unless they write that session data to their database, it should come up without the same ATS suggestions as before. Now, use the 3rd Party Browser to go to ATS and then go back to Facebook. Voila! The ATS suggestions all of a sudden appear, even in another browser!


Welcome to the world of no privacy!

Being a novice in regards to internet privacy, I'm not quite sure if I understood the point you were trying to make. Are you saying that as long as I use a 3rd party browser like Firefox (which I do use) to access Facebook and ATS that I am protected? If not, what suggestions would you offer to enhance internet anonymity?

reply to post by fraterormus


Thanks for the links. Correct me if I'm wrong it's just printing out as many links as possible from a database and matching up based on on if uses the visited css for the link? And how do they log it with the background image? I'm guessing each url would have it's own unique image url? Wouldn't really need a bunch of images obviously, just use the name for logging and show the same one.

Wonder if their will be a .css fix, because that shouldn't be allowed. Wouldn't bother me, I don't really need to change images for visited urls - pretty sure I never have.

I've known about the objects and that kind of stuff and know they are capable of doing pretty much anything and is based pretty much on trust.

But that with the browser history is creepy. I don't really care about "big brother", ATS is about as "bad" as it gets for my browser history. But I surely don't like that anyone can get that information by owning a website I visit.

Thanks



[edit on 7/18/2009 by badmedia]

Originally posted by 1 4M 7H3 1
Being a novice in regards to internet privacy, I'm not quite sure if I understood the point you were trying to make. Are you saying that as long as I use a 3rd party browser like Firefox (which I do use) to access Facebook and ATS that I am protected? If not, what suggestions would you offer to enhance internet anonymity?

Not at all. It was just showing a process to prove (using demonstrative Scientific Method) that what was occurring to the OP was a matter of Facebook data mining his Browser History. The same results would have happened no matter what Browser you use.

All Web Browsers use the same web specifications, otherwise the web wouldn't universally work with any browser. So, basically they are all the same and have pretty much the same privacy vulnerabilities that the rest do.

However, I personally never use Microsoft Internet Explorer unless I'm troubleshooting a problem on a website that may be Browser dependent (or going to a Microsoft site that requires IE and won't work with any other browser). Although I like Chrome, I don't trust the User Agreement/TOS from Google (besides the fact that it accesses the Browser History and cache of all your browsers on your computer, making your privacy even easier to violate!). Firefox has it's issues, but security problems are patched pretty quickly and there are many plugins that you can use to further enhance the browser and make it more secure and better ensure your privacy (I especially like the Private Browsing Feature built in to newer versions of Firefox). To be honest, I haven't had any recent experience with Opera to give any kind of recommendation one way or the other, but back when it came out it was the Great White Hope of the Browser World. Apple's Safari is even worse than Microsoft's Internet Explorer (and I'm the last person who ever thought I'd say that something was worse than Microsoft, so that's saying a lot). If you have a Mac, definitely get Camino (the version of Firefox for Mac).

To truly keep semi-anonymous/retain your privacy you really have to use Proxy Servers. There is no other way around it. Unfortunately, many of the Free 2 Use Public Proxy Servers are havens for Marketers, Scammers, Phishers, and often launching points for Spyware/Adware on your computer. It's difficult finding a reliable one and they rarely stay up for long.

However, TOR is a great way to anonymize your web-requests. It doesn't necessarily prevent your Web Browser from spilling all the beans about who you are, but it helps considerably.

Some other good Privacy Plugins if you are running Firefox are:

Better Privacy

NoScript

TACO Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out

Ghostery

RefControl

NoRedirect

TrackMeNot

Of course, there are thousands more.

But keeping your Browser quiet and using Proxy Servers or Routing Networks like TOR is only half the battle. Ultimately you need to be aware of your browsing habits, and learn how to be careful...because on the Web, the government is the least of your worries. Script Kiddies and Phishers are far more immediate of threats than the government, and marketers who like to masquerade as your friend (like Microsoft and Google) are exploiting your behavior to generate them revenue. So is every portal and and almost every website you visit (ATS included). If ever there was a place to TrustNo1 it is on the Web.

I am here and facebook but with different user names and emails. I have not had that happen - yet. I only use it for keeping up with old friends and family that don't live near me that I never see.

reply to post by fraterormus


Any idea how Quantcast gets other user demographics like whether users have kids, level of education, etc.? I'm just curious and I have no technical knowledge.

I'm not personally worried about my privacy when it comes to 'TPTB', I'm pretty sure they can get whatever information they want on me. I think they know I'm a carebear though, and I wouldn't be able to afford weapons even if I wanted them.

I don't use FB, but I blog on MySpace and it's public. I make sure to show the possible social networking spies some love. They know nobody else is reading my incoherent philosophical rambling anyway.

[edit on 7/19/2009 by eMachine]