Do You Yahoo?

Yahoo is tracking you...
If you use yahoo email, or search engine or any other of a variety of services offered by them including games and messenger, you might be interested in opting out of what they call "Web Beacons" which track your online activity and send it back to Yahoo. It's an easy yet little known way to opt out of the beacons, and I'd reccomend it highly.
Here's how...
Go to yahoo's privacy policy page, in the US the address is privacy.yahoo.com... and scroll down until you see

Yahoo! uses web beacons to access Yahoo! cookies inside and outside our network of web sites and in connection with Yahoo! products and services.

and then click the web beacons link, there you will find an "opt out" option. Click that and you will have one less eye on your web traffic.

It's always good to get a heads up. Anyone know if MSN has a simular feature?
Is hotmail doing the same.

I'm not sure about hotmail, but I think the old saying about not getting something for nothing probably applies. I found about yahoo and immediately opted out.

Thanks for this info. I'm a YahooMail user and I'll be opting out immediately.

Does anyone know if they are using this info for anything other than targetted marketing? I guess you have to consider the internet the same as going out in public, anyone can see what you are doing.

Thanks, man. Yanked that module right out of that mofo...

Its ok, Bob. Really, I'm feeling much better now. There is no need to be angry, Bob. The HAL 9000 Series has a perfect record- we have never made an error...

Keywords to remember:
snoops, peeping toms, busybodies, stoolies, spies, control freaks...

"Every time I see one of those #$$%^& street corner cameras, I pick my nose."- George Carlin

[edit on 7-6-2005 by Chakotay]

Yeah I opted out as soon as I found out about it. Yahoo isn't all it is cut out to be.

Originally posted by twitchy
Yeah I opted out as soon as I found out about it. Yahoo isn't all it is cut out to be.

I use Yahoo Mail for another email address for all the Garbage.
You know, signing up for things and the like.
Thats about it.

and then click the web beacons link, there you will find an "opt out" option. Click that and you will have one less eye on your web traffic.

Very cool! But do you seriously think they're gonna stop the beacon on you? Ofcourse not....they might keep it on the Down Low....but rest assured, it's still there.

madhatter, is the LS on the Eagle in your avatar?

I myself use the german yahoo service in form of an email account and ive just been checking the privacy policies etc but i cannot seem to find anything about these beacons in the german version


Is this perhaps only for us users ? To be sure i also clicked on the link and opted out on the us site

Thanks for the info, twitchy!
Hadn't heard ab out th is.

Originally posted by twitchy
Yahoo is tracking you...

Thanks Twitchy, very helpful.
This opt out seems to sort out Altavista too. I use Search Engines for my job from my PC, so the fewer people looking the better!

Thank God for Spybot Search and Destroy!

Twitchy, Computer runs faster now, too.

When you install Yahoo, it asks 'can we send error reports'- if you say no, it runs faster too.

You know I got to thinking, since I installed Windows Service pack 2, I haven't had any problems with spyware. That makes me worry frankly and I wonder if Service Pack 2 is hiding spyware rather than eliminating it. Yahoo for example, these beacons never showed up on any spyware detectors so I wonder if Yahoo and some of the other more subtle spyware makers are in bed with microsoft and the spyware blocker companies.

Anyone know if Google's gmail has something similar?