Does ATS use web bugs/clear tracking pixels?

I ask this because sometimes, near the top left of the ad at top of the page there is white pixel. Just wondering.

edit: en.wikipedia.org...

in not sure if they do directly but to upload pictures to ats or to watch you tube you will require adobe products and they use the pixel gif tracking for third party reasons

edit to add (as far as i can follow the four different contracts )

xploder

No.

ATS Privacy Policy

You could always view the html source of ATS pages and check out each and every object for yourself...?

Edit to add: If you suspect one of the ad providers of using "underhanded" methods of gather information, please notify us using the Complaints feature and give as much information about it as you can provide.

Originally posted by Gemwolf
No.

ATS Privacy Policy

You could always view the html source of ATS pages and check out each and every object for yourself...?

brillient idea for a browser add on
a browser that looks for you lol



xploder

Well, I tried to printscreen with no luck, but I did look at the source code and there does seem to be a tracking pixel. Then again, I don't know how to read code. Right near the bottom I found this: "http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-26I6IM6wjWp8k.gif" style="display: none" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/>


Edit: maybe I shouldn't add the tail end of the code when posting, it got cut off and inserted code text near the bottom of where my avatar would/could be

If you're using Firefox, you can install an add-on called Ghostery, which shows what tracking a website or it's advertisers are using. ATS has Google+1, Google Analytics, Gorilla Nation, Quantcast, and Scorecard research Beacon all tracking, among other things, your browsing habits (eg. exit URL, time/date), your IP, and your "demographics" (e.g operating system, browser software, etc). This information is collected by Internet advertising companies for means of measuring advertising effectiveness and appropriateness to the audience, graphing visitor behaviour, billing, etc, and it is shared with third parties. Pretty much every website on the Internets has this stuff.

There is also a type of cookie called a Flash Cookie - a "Super Cookie", so called because they aren't stored or deleted with your normal cookies, and are difficult to find and remove. Better Privacy add-on for Firefox can remove these. I'm not sure if ATS has any of these.

If you don't want to be tracked, don't use the Internet...(or use Tor).

Wecomeinpeace, thanks for the info, esp. about the super cookie. However, since learning about tracking "pixels" it just seemed very odd that they would hide it as a pixel, it screems sneakyness imo. That said, I do know they track everything just about everywhere and still show me ad's for things I don't want and never search for. I remember a time where I could reach the end of the net, I sometimes wonder when a separate internet will be made to get away from it all (like a town lan net).

Probably, but I hear a tin foil hat stops them from sending their signal.

Who's them? What signal? If you can't answer that, I don't think tinfoil will help.

Originally posted by XL5
Well, I tried to printscreen with no luck, but I did look at the source code and there does seem to be a tracking pixel. Then again, I don't know how to read code. Right near the bottom I found this: "http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-26I6IM6wjWp8k.gif" style="display: none" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/>


Edit: maybe I shouldn't add the tail end of the code when posting, it got cut off and inserted code text near the bottom of where my avatar would/could be

edit on 25-1-2012 by XL5 because: oops don't wanna break ATS

Yes this is a tracking pixel, and i didnt want to chime in yesterday here and take the wrath from mods

BUT...you need to know that every serious webmaster (and in particular a high traffic site like ATS) uses means for stats tracking, Google analytics and similar....since every webmaster needs/wants to know numbers like visitor numbers and similar.

Most of those "stats" work by using a tracking pixel...but this doesn't mean a thing since such data is usually collected anonymously - this is nothing to freak out over...it's just a very common thing.

Thanks Flexy123, it just seemed evil to me after I read about it in EA sports user agreement along with their "you can't take us to court and you can't have a jury". All the other user argreements I have ever read, never said anything about some "hidden" object that grabs info, they normally just say, we collect your info but can't identify you (except if there is a court order), I'm ok with that, its just the hidden part that seems sneaky.

reply to post by XL5


It depends how you define "grab info". That cookie might simply count visitors, i am too lazy now to lookup what the quantcast cookie does but i think i have that on some of my own sites too.

Then there are other kinds of "tracking" cookies, for example when you visit shopping sites amazon.com....where they really CAN track all the sites you are visiting for the purpose of creating a profile to be able to display ads according to your interests etc.

As for "hiding" the pixel..it's just how it is implemented technically..it's not done purposefully to "hide" something..but a common way to set a remote Cookie on a user's PC. (Because for the cookie to be set on the user's PC, there needs to be a connection made to the server, eg. quantcast or wherever the cookie comes from. (Because you are not connected to them, you are instead on ATS)

And one way to open up a connection in your browser to a remote site (from *another* site) is by having an image open from the other site, but the image ITSELF is not important, it's only a tiny 1 pixel image which is invisible...and it only serves the purpose so the cookie can be set on your computer). (Because the cookie doesn't come from ATS but from another site).

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Note: All modern browsers should have a "private browsing feature" which would enable private browsing, means all cookies get cleared after you exit your sessions. (I am not sure now whether the cookies are actually getting blocked also when you activate private browsing).

But you can ALSO in your internet options set privacy/security options that way that ALL cookies are blocked if you are really concerned about cookies.

Private Browsing in Firefox:

support.mozilla.org...

Blocking all Cookies:

www.howtogeek.com...

I'm not really against cookies (other than the "super cookie"), just though they didn't need a pixel to do that normally.