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Teh One Who Knocks
02-12-2012, 07:14 PM
Analysis: Abine's DoNotTrackPlus browser plug-in stops trackers in their tracks -- and it's free.
By Dan Tynan, ITworld


Here’s fair warning to all social media data scavengers, ad tracking companies, and analytics snoops on the InterWebs: There’s a new anti-tracking sheriff in town.

Online privacy company Abine Inc. last week unveiled a new browser widget called, appropriately enough, DoNotTrackPlus (http://abine.com/dntdetail.php) (because these days everything has to come with a plus sign -- thank you, Google). I’ve been taking it for a spin this morning and I gotta say it’s pretty slick.

DNT+ keeps more than 600 ad networks and other Web trackers from depositing tracking cookies on your hard drive. It also tells you who they are. Period, full stop. (However, it won't do anything about tracking cookies that have already been deposited on your computer; you'll have to manually delete those.)

Getting DNT+ to work is painless -- download, click “Install,” and you’re done. I didn’t even have to restart my browser. Visit any site, and the DNT+ ticker in the upper right corner of your browser tells you how many Web trackers are embedded within it. Click the ticker to see the types of trackers and who they belong to.

For example, DNT+ detected 17 trackers on the very site where this column originated (ITworld.com).

http://i.imgur.com/kvOSj.jpg


Three of them are social media sharing buttons (Facebook, G+, Twitter). They will still work if you click them, but they won’t record the fact you’re looking at this page if you do nothing (which Facebook, at least, has been known to do).

Three are ad networks (Dedicated Networks, Quantcast, and AppNexus). By blocking them, DNT+ keeps them from capturing any information about you.

11 are classified as “trackers,” though most of these are also ad networks (like Doubleclick) as well as things like Google Analytics.


DNT+ also keeps a running tally of all the trackers it has blocked as you surf. It took me about 30 minutes of casual surfing to blast past the 100 mark. And that’s it in a nutshell. Really simple, highly useful, and did I mention it’s free?

This is not an original idea by any stretch. DNT+’s main competition, so to speak, is another free add-on called Ghostery, which has been downloaded by more than 5 million surfers. (Another free tool called Collusion shows you how different Web sites are connected via these trackers.)

Ghostery differs from DNT+ in a number of ways. The first is performance. DNT+ had no impact on how quickly pages loaded for me. In my experience, using Ghostery makes Web pages load a scosh slower (your mileage may vary).

With nearly 800 tracking companies in its database, however, Ghostery is a bit more thorough. At ITworld Ghostery found 20 trackers, including a half dozen DNT+ didn’t flag, but missed three trackers Abine did catch.

The biggest difference is that DNT+ just blocks these cookies outright -- ask no questions, take no prisoners. You have to tell Ghostery which tracking cookies you want to block, either individually by company or by category (advertising, analytics, etc).

The reason for that is simple. Ghostery is owned by Evidon, a company that’s trying to bridge the gap between ad networks and the people who are worried about Web tracking (aka, the Don’t Track Me Bro crowd). Evidon is behind the AdChoices campaigns you might see on some Web ads, which discloses information about what data each ad is gathering as you surf.

http://i.imgur.com/fQuhK.png

Evidon CEO Scott Meyer says fears about Web tracking are overblown, in large part because ad networks have no interest in personally identifying the people who are looking at their ads. He also sounds the usual warnings about how if tracking and targeted ads were regulated out of existence the “free” Internet as we know it would cease to exist.

(I have a problem with that argument, but I’ll save it for another post.)

The choice seems pretty simple to me. Hate Web tracking and all that it entails? Download DoNotTrackPlus. Want to know more about who’s tracking you without necessarily opting out of all tracking? Give Ghostery a spin, and look out for those blue AdChoices triangles as they proliferate across the Web.

I know which one I’m using from now on.

Loser
02-12-2012, 07:20 PM
*Hipster mode on*

Been doing this for years through HOSTS file.

*Hipster mode off*

8-[

DemonGeminiX
02-12-2012, 07:45 PM
Yeah, this add-on isn't really necessary.

Teh One Who Knocks
02-12-2012, 07:55 PM
Yes, because everyone knows how to dick with their host file :tup:










:sarcasm:

Hal-9000
02-12-2012, 08:00 PM
17 on the site the program is being hosted on...

:rofl: bastards

Teh One Who Knocks
02-12-2012, 08:04 PM
I installed it and it works pretty slick :)

Teh Basement is clean :thumbsup:

http://i.imgur.com/p9dSH.jpg

Hal-9000
02-12-2012, 08:37 PM
Teh Basement is clean :thumbsup:


http://i43.tinypic.com/sfxhxi.jpg

Pony
02-13-2012, 11:59 AM
I'm trying it out and it really does work seamlessly. :tup:

Loser
02-13-2012, 02:33 PM
Yes, because everyone knows how to dick with their host file :tup:










:sarcasm:

It's not something people would know about, so I can understand what you're saying, but it's not like it's difficult.

It's copy/paste/save/reboot.


http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
This site updates the most.


http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt
This is the latest list.

Godfather
02-13-2012, 05:34 PM
I installed it and had to disable it to get back to the basement?! WTF

It let me go to Facebook and surprise, surprise that place is a mess

Pony
02-13-2012, 09:29 PM
I installed it and had to disable it to get back to the basement?! WTF

It let me go to Facebook and surprise, surprise that place is a mess

That's surprising, I haven't had any trouble anywhere, I don't even notice it's running.

All time total 466 blocked so far.

Teh One Who Knocks
02-13-2012, 10:08 PM
Only GF can mess up a FF plugin :facepalm:

Hal-9000
02-13-2012, 11:06 PM
theory:

he installed it, removed the logon cookie from Teh Basement, then while still with the browser and program open, he tried to log back into Teh Basement :lol:

Teh One Who Knocks
02-13-2012, 11:16 PM
But it doesn't block login cookies :lol:

KevinD
02-13-2012, 11:27 PM
So this sounds okat to me.. Dunno what HOSTS files is

Hal-9000
02-13-2012, 11:58 PM
But it doesn't block login cookies :lol:

It's GF, of course it does :lol:

Pony
02-14-2012, 12:23 AM
It's GF, of course it does :lol:

The only thing I can think of is either he's running IE or Chrome and there's a glitch with those browsers or maybe there was already something nasty on his comp affecting this destination....

Godfather
02-14-2012, 12:37 AM
It's fine now, think FF just needed to be restarted or something...

Pony
02-14-2012, 12:50 AM
It's fine now, think FF just needed to be restarted or something...

Weird. I did have a bug when I first installed it, the button didn't show up and when I closed the browser and restarted it was saying FF is already running. I had to task manager/close FF then restart. I realized they put the damn button in the "navigation" bar which I don't have checked. I opened the Nav bar, dragged the icon to the menu bar, re-closed the nav bar and clicked the button. been fine since.

Teh One Who Knocks
02-14-2012, 02:27 AM
That's surprising, I haven't had any trouble anywhere, I don't even notice it's running.

All time total 466 blocked so far.

http://i.imgur.com/Ssy34.jpg

661 for me so far

Hal-9000
02-14-2012, 02:46 AM
Wilt Chamberlain blocked more :hand:

Acid Trip
02-23-2012, 08:30 PM
2,771 blocked since the day you posted this.

Pony
02-23-2012, 10:47 PM
5032 blocked :shock:

samarchepas
02-24-2012, 12:51 AM
I'm at 11K :lol:

Richard Cranium
02-24-2012, 01:06 AM
Enjoy! Your all-time total is:
802 blocked

Southern Belle
02-24-2012, 01:40 AM
I just got it. Thanks Lance!

Teh One Who Knocks
02-24-2012, 12:14 PM
http://i.imgur.com/JrAM4.jpg

:shock:

Southern Belle
02-24-2012, 02:29 PM
Mine says 9 blocked (since last night). What kind of websites do y'all visit that does all this tracking?

Hal-9000
02-24-2012, 04:26 PM
Installed last night, thanks Lank :thumbsup:

Godfather
02-24-2012, 04:49 PM
Mine says 9 blocked (since last night). What kind of websites do y'all visit that does all this tracking?

Cooking websites 8-[

redred
02-24-2012, 05:13 PM
Mine says 9 blocked (since last night). What kind of websites do y'all visit that does all this tracking?

i've got over 300 since 11 am this morning :lol:

Richard Cranium
02-24-2012, 05:19 PM
Meth cooking websites 8-[

That explains it..

I'm up to 1632 now, for some strange reason..

Acid Trip
02-24-2012, 06:22 PM
Mine says 9 blocked (since last night). What kind of websites do y'all visit that does all this tracking?

My homepage is Yahoo so that's 2 every visit. Yahoo Finance is 4 every visit (and it refreshes frequently). Drudgereport is 8 (also refreshes frequently) and that doesn't include any links you click for various news sites.

Hal-9000
02-24-2012, 06:55 PM
It's funny...sites you'd think that would be crawling with them, aren't...


youtube for example....1? :shock: