Originally posted by PrinceOfEarth
Youtube is owned by google, trust me when I say, they have already been tracking you.

That's why I now use Startpage search engine (and others). That's why I got rid of my android smart phone. That's why I run "Do not track me" and "Bleachbit". In a world gone totally insane, I'm doing my best to opt-out of the madness.

BTW .... The Russians have supposedly built a android phone sans google spyware. I'll be looking forward to buying one (or a similar phone) when the prices drop.

Originally posted by jcarpenter

Originally posted by PrinceOfEarth
Youtube is owned by google, trust me when I say, they have already been tracking you.

That's why I now use Startpage search engine (and others). That's why I got rid of my android smart phone. That's why I run "Do not track me" and "Bleachbit". In a world gone totally insane, I'm doing my best to opt-out of the madness.

BTW .... The Russians have supposedly built a android phone sans google spyware. I'll be looking forward to buying one (or a similar phone) when the prices drop.

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jcarpenter
I just dnlded Bleachbit - I have the others - DoNotTrack is self explanatory.......but how do I use Bleachbit? The best way I meant to say............

For those who registered with youtube, and want to confuse the 'researchers' view videos that have no interest for you, in equal amounts of the videos that do interest you, a sports fan? right, history, astronomy, cooking, Jazz, basket weaving, get the picture? while those videos are playing, cook, shower, read a book,.......

Originally posted by Gregorian

I just dnlded Bleachbit - I have the others - DoNotTrack is self explanatory.......but how do I use Bleachbit?

Power it up -- it's pretty self-explanatory. Just check the items you want to search for ordinary or persistent cookies. Make sure you check for cookies in "flash".

Originally posted by jcarpenter

Originally posted by Gregorian

I just dnlded Bleachbit - I have the others - DoNotTrack is self explanatory.......but how do I use Bleachbit?

Power it up -- it's pretty self-explanatory. Just check the items you want to search for ordinary or persistent cookies. Make sure you check for cookies in "flash".

Yea _ began to see that after a bit.........looks to be a very good device.........thanks

What is it abt. Flash that needs special attention...........are their cookies persistent?

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UGH! Sometimes I feel like an ambassador to the internet.

I own a digital marketing and consulting firm. In addition to helping clients create and post content, we also help them manage their "Sales funnel" through the use of online advertising. Many of our ATS members from the EU, Australia and Canada may not be familiar with what I am going to share with you as, for whatever reason, they have outlawed many of these practices - perhaps due to a lack of industry oversight.

First of all, EVERYTHING you do online is tracked - ANONYMOUSLY. This means that you have a profile built upon pixel tags, cookies, email logins, explicit data posted on Facebook or LinkedIn, etc... There are THOUSANDS of ways that data is collected and built against your profile. That said, your profile isn't really attached to you. It is attached to a randomized user ID.

In the USA, we have 2 primary organizations who ensure compliance with privacy laws; the DMA (Digital Marketing Alliance) and IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau). These two organizations, together with input and oversight from the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ensure that all advertisers and their technology providers abide by OBA (Online Behavioral Advertising) Guidelines, co-written by DMA, IAM, FCC and the BBB.

Part of compliance comes from the publishers as well - ATS, for example, is a publisher. Without getting too much into the nerd aspect of how all of this works, ATS continually monitors advertisements placed on their websites to ensure that tracking tags and pixels are NEVER placed on an individuals computer that would allow for personal identification. Rest assured, advertisers try but are almost immediately blacklisted by publishers and ad servers alike.

So, yes - you are being tracked - but not YOU, the metaphysical you - but your profile of interests. In this way, advertisers and publishers can offer content that is deemed to be relevant to you - keeping in mind that a publishers goals are to a.) keep you on their site for as long as possible and b.) to keep you returning as frequently as possible (There are far too many reason why this is critical to publishers to list here). By the same token, it is an advertisers goal to eliminate waste by not advertising to people who have no need or interest in their products. Example; how many 18 to 54 year old males need tampons? Advertisers increase advertising efficiency and ROI by delivering ads to those profiles who most align with their target audience.

Now, if you want to get into the nefarious "SPYING" that takes place online, you need to look at black-hats and the government. These folks employ techniques and technologies that NO off-the-shelf software can uncover and that NO "Do not track" command lines can stop.

There is nothing to worry about when FB or YouTube tracks your browsing habits. In fact, once you understand it better you would be thankful for recognizing that the publishers are simply trying to cater to you.

Feel free to ping me if you have any questions. I live and work in the underbelly and know a great deal technically about haw this all works.

Youtube is asking for your name for one reason: Youtube is infamous for the brutal, harsh, inflammatory comments in the comment section of a lot of videos. They were figuring that if people used their real names, they might be less apt to act like a dick when they commented on someone's video. That's it! That's why they've done this.

Originally posted by kozmo
UGH! Sometimes I feel like an ambassador to the internet.

I own a digital marketing and consulting firm. In addition to helping clients create and post content, we also help them manage their "Sales funnel" through the use of online advertising. Many of our ATS members from the EU, Australia and Canada may not be familiar with what I am going to share with you as, for whatever reason, they have outlawed many of these practices - perhaps due to a lack of industry oversight.

First of all, EVERYTHING you do online is tracked - ANONYMOUSLY. This means that you have a profile built upon pixel tags, cookies, email logins, explicit data posted on Facebook or LinkedIn, etc... There are THOUSANDS of ways that data is collected and built against your profile. That said, your profile isn't really attached to you. It is attached to a randomized user ID.

In the USA, we have 2 primary organizations who ensure compliance with privacy laws; the DMA (Digital Marketing Alliance) and IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau). These two organizations, together with input and oversight from the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ensure that all advertisers and their technology providers abide by OBA (Online Behavioral Advertising) Guidelines, co-written by DMA, IAM, FCC and the BBB.

Part of compliance comes from the publishers as well - ATS, for example, is a publisher. Without getting too much into the nerd aspect of how all of this works, ATS continually monitors advertisements placed on their websites to ensure that tracking tags and pixels are NEVER placed on an individuals computer that would allow for personal identification. Rest assured, advertisers try but are almost immediately blacklisted by publishers and ad servers alike.

So, yes - you are being tracked - but not YOU, the metaphysical you - but your profile of interests. In this way, advertisers and publishers can offer content that is deemed to be relevant to you - keeping in mind that a publishers goals are to a.) keep you on their site for as long as possible and b.) to keep you returning as frequently as possible (There are far too many reason why this is critical to publishers to list here). By the same token, it is an advertisers goal to eliminate waste by not advertising to people who have no need or interest in their products. Example; how many 18 to 54 year old males need tampons? Advertisers increase advertising efficiency and ROI by delivering ads to those profiles who most align with their target audience.

Now, if you want to get into the nefarious "SPYING" that takes place online, you need to look at black-hats and the government. These folks employ techniques and technologies that NO off-the-shelf software can uncover and that NO "Do not track" command lines can stop.

There is nothing to worry about when FB or YouTube tracks your browsing habits. In fact, once you understand it better you would be thankful for recognizing that the publishers are simply trying to cater to you.

Feel free to ping me if you have any questions. I live and work in the underbelly and know a great deal technically about haw this all works.

Thank you for injecting some sense into this. I agree with everything, but would add that I'm not sure if they're exactly trying to 'cater' to us. Sure, they are, but only in attempt to sell things to us, and for no other reason. They want to know our habits, our friends, what our friends' interests are etc., all in an effort to keep us as consumers. This can be viewed as quite neutral - they're advertisers, we're consumers, so what would you expect?

I would however like to add that we can much more easily be manipulated this way too by these advertisers. And then again, at the same time, though they have an easy way of gaining the advantage as advertisers, we have a lot of advantage these days by being able to research user experiences of something we're about to buy, thus making it easier to eliminate buying crap, and thus forcing the advertisers to actually create products that are good.

This is all they want. If you think they're preparing to know who we are and ring our doorbells, keep waiting...

Go metal gear solid on these spyware using scum train.

Originally posted by thebtheb

Thank you for injecting some sense into this. I agree with everything, but would add that I'm not sure if they're exactly trying to 'cater' to us. Sure, they are, but only in attempt to sell things to us, and for no other reason. They want to know our habits, our friends, what our friends' interests are etc., all in an effort to keep us as consumers. This can be viewed as quite neutral - they're advertisers, we're consumers, so what would you expect?

I would however like to add that we can much more easily be manipulated this way too by these advertisers. And then again, at the same time, though they have an easy way of gaining the advantage as advertisers, we have a lot of advantage these days by being able to research user experiences of something we're about to buy, thus making it easier to eliminate buying crap, and thus forcing the advertisers to actually create products that are good.

This is all they want. If you think they're preparing to know who we are and ring our doorbells, keep waiting...

Thank you for your response. Yes, I assumed that this went without saying... It is driven by a desire to increase revenue - nothing more.

Originally posted by Gregorian
Perhaps I am an un-trusting person given to episodes of online paranoia. Given the possibility of that being so - and imagining that I could set my fears aside even for just a moment - I am still not convinced that any of the above (4) statements are really true. I think that the PTB can attach an identifying marker to a screen-name or to the so-called Anonymously profiled "metaphysical" me so that they can have their way with me in any manner they so please.

In some ways I admire your efforts at putting us at ease because they seem genuine enough - its just that I don't trust what you say about the fact that they aren't really tracking me - but a phantom me of whom they have no real concern.

edit on 10-12-2012 by Gregorian because: (no reason given)

Thanks for your response. Allow me to elaborate... As previously mentioned, the tracking that I am discussing and that was referenced in the OP is for sales and marketing purposes. Absolutely the alphabet agencies can track EVERYTHING you do online and attribute it directly to you - make no mistake about that. However, the data collected by the alphabet agencies are collected by computers who are scanning for keywords, phrases, content and browsing patterns that will then alert an analyst who will determine if the data warrants additional follow-up.

You don't have to trust me on this, but I wish you would because this is what I do - all day - every day.