Banish tracking cookies from your browser

 

Advertisers are notorious for watching what you do and where you go online. That’s valuable and very profitable information. Here’s one way to stop some of the spying.

Think of cookies as the trail you leave behind when online. A first-party cookie is created and stored in your browser when you visit a website. It keeps things like your login info and shopping cart, so you don’t have to fill them in again each time. First-party cookies also preserve options and settings.

That’s useful, but cookies can be invasive, too. Companies use them to track where you go and what you do online. They’ll even do it on a website other than the one you’re visiting. Advertisers love cookies because they help customize the ads you see. If the ads appeal to you, you’re more likely to click them, which yields a higher ROI.

Blocking third-party cookies and tracking is one thing, but how about not being subjected to tracking methods to begin with? That’s where AdChoices and WebChoices come in.

AdChoices is a program from the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), a group of advertising and marketing companies that self-regulate to offer you choices for targeted advertising. Why would they self-regulate? So, no one else steps in to do it, of course.

Try it out next time you see an ad online. Look for the small AdChoices icon. It looks like a blue triangle with a lowercase “i” in the middle.

Click that to get information about the ad, change its settings and block it. Not all advertisers participate in the program, but you’ll know it when you see the symbol.

Within AdChoices is a tool called WebChoices. You can use this tool to opt out of many companies in one step. As with AdChoices, it only works for companies that participate in the program.

Get this: I used it to kick out 144 different tracking cookies!

Here’s how to use WebChoices:

• Go to optout.aboutads.info. WebChoices will scan your browser and computer to determine whether first-party and third-party cookies are enabled, along with a list of companies creating targeted ads for you. You’ll also see which companies you have already opted out of if you’ve used the tool.
• After the status check is complete, click Continue.
• Look at the Customizing Ads on your Browser column to see which companies use targeted ads. If it says Yes, you can opt out of that company by checking the box under the Opt-Out column.
• Or you can select everything by clicking Opt Out of All.
• After making your selection, click Submit Your Choices. (You can skip those steps by clicking Opt Out Of All as a first step.)
• The website will process your selection, and you can click View Updated Results to see how it turned out.

The WebChoices tool works for the browser you’re currently using, so run it for each if you use more than one. If you didn’t catch every company the first time, try rerunning the scan.

If you delete cookies, you may not see the opt-out choices for the company, so run the scan now and then.

Source: komando.com©