Reply
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,151
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Being followed on the Internet

Yes I had that happen to me as well. I did get a 20% off coupon email when I didn't buy the item in my cart. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,504
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Being followed on the Internet

I continue to be surprised that people seem to be unaware that this is how "the internet" pays for itself to exist, in a broad sense. No content of any kind anywhere is without strings. It's the price of being online. All we can do is shut it down to the minimum possible with the tools that are out there; beyond that, if you want to be online, you just put up with it. I get annoyed too, but I'll never get so annoyed I'll stop going online. 

Life without Mexican food is no life at all
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,170
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Being followed on the Internet

Sometimes clearing  your COOKIES helps to stop most of this.  I really don't mind if the company is who I deal with.  It offers me a reminder that I can ignore.  

 

Far more annoying is the  catalogues that come in the mail. The companies seem linked and on any given day I can be looking at  over 5 stacked in  my mailbox.  I call them, ask to be removed and sooner or later they stop but new ones crop up.  

 

I rarely UNSUBSCRIBE my emails since that seems to make them send even more.  

 

Cannot win this one, I guess.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,475
Registered: ‎03-14-2015

Re: Being followed on the Internet

Mailing lists are sold from company to company, that's how and why one ends up with so many catalogs in their mailbox from companies that they have never done  business with.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,179
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Being followed on the Internet

Wind0ws 10 really will be in your business.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,495
Registered: ‎05-03-2014

Re: Being followed on the Internet

Being followed on the internet? Hmmmmmmmm.....

 

 

QVC and/or Nick Chavez's site, if you're reading this, it would be....uh, ever so annoying if you were to spam me with discounts and Easy Pay offers for Nick's products. Yep, sure would annoy me. And it would ESPECIALLY annoy me if you did this on a regular basis.

 

 

 

(reverse psycology works......eh, most of the time Smiley LOL)

~Nick Chavez is my favorite vendor on QVC and Alberti Popaj is my favorite QVC host.~
Nick Chavez now has his own sub-forum under the My Favorite Brand folder
Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,055
Registered: ‎12-10-2012

Re: Being followed on the Internet

 

@millieshops  that's so distressing. Unfortunately, it seems to be an ongoing and expanding part of the public Internet. 

 

 I have two suggestions that I use to help make my Internet experience a more private one: 

 

1)  Safari has a duck duck go option that they created at the beginning of the year.  Using this option prevents your browsing history from being viewed. 

 

2) Surf Easy -- surf easy is a virtual private network. I purchased this product from QVC last year and it works quite well. Before  I purchased it, I ran it by the Creatives  at my local Apple store and they all gave it a thumbs up. It's not quite as easy to use as DuckDuckGo  but I think it provides a much better level of privacy.  --  I just checked the QVC listings and they don't seem to be selling surf easy anymore. I'm not sure if it's out of stock or if they've just stop selling it, but I think it's a very good product and you can probably buy it directly from surf easy.

 

-- bebeSmiley Happy

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,476
Registered: ‎06-27-2010

Re: Being followed on the Internet


@Mama Mia wrote:

@dooBdoo wrote:

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

Ladies, you need to DELETE THE COOKIES on your computer ... on a regular basis.

 

I clear my browsing history about twice a week and then go through the cookies and delete everything I don't want.

 

For example, I want my bank and credit card companies to recognize me, so I don't have to re-enter everything every single time I go on.    However, there's a lot of tracking cookies, and I always delete them.


 

 

 

@Tinkrbl44, All you need to do is have your browser save the login info for those websites.  Then you can clear ALL cookies every day and your login info will still be saved on that browser, on that computer.

 

(I wanted to add this:  because of so many security breaches, some websites -- especially those holding financial data -- are changing their software to try and avoid allowing users to save their login info.)

 

I clear ALL cookies/cache/data at least once a day but my user IDs and passwords are still saved in my browser.

 

 


dooBdoo, Hi! I am on Chrome, how do I clear the cookies etc. I appreciste your help. TIA.

mm


 

 

@Mama Mia, Hi!  @straykatz has a perfect explanation in her post to you and here's a link that might help, too.  Once you get in the habit of doing it frequently, it takes just a minute.

 

"Manage your cookies and site data"

 

link:  https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en

 

 

Few things reveal your intellect and your generosity of spirit—the parallel powers of your heart and mind—better than how you give feedback.~Maria Popova
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,476
Registered: ‎06-27-2010

Re: Being followed on the Internet

[ Edited ]

@bonnielu wrote:

Sometimes clearing  your COOKIES helps to stop most of this.  I really don't mind if the company is who I deal with.  It offers me a reminder that I can ignore.  

 

Far more annoying is the  catalogues that come in the mail. The companies seem linked and on any given day I can be looking at  over 5 stacked in  my mailbox.  I call them, ask to be removed and sooner or later they stop but new ones crop up.  

 

I rarely UNSUBSCRIBE my emails since that seems to make them send even more.  

 

Cannot win this one, I guess.


 

@bonnielu

 

The "unsubscribe" feature usually is effective if used with valid email messages from reputable companies.  But it's not a good idea to click it for any suspicious messages.

 

Regarding the postal mail catalogs,  I've eliminated 99.99999% of unwanted mail by registering several years ago with 2 free, safe, reputable sites. 

 

I highly recommend them!Smiley

 

~~~~~~

 

DMA Choice

 

link:  https://www.dmachoice.org/

 

and

 

Catalog Choice

 

link: https://www.catalogchoice.org/

 

~~~~~~

 

(And no worries...  they do not give your personal info to any other organization.)Smiley

 

 

Few things reveal your intellect and your generosity of spirit—the parallel powers of your heart and mind—better than how you give feedback.~Maria Popova
Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,055
Registered: ‎12-10-2012

Re: Being followed on the Internet


@dooBdoo wrote:

 

__________________________________

 

 

This tracking is a result of cookies downloaded to your computer when you visit sites and also "remote images" which appear and notify the sender as soon as you open an email message.

 

 

Some ways you can limit tracking, if you want:

 

 

--Use a search engine which protects your privacy, like DuckDuckGo.

 

 

--Install browser addons/extensions like AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, Ghostery, BetterPrivacy, NoScript, etc.  (And disable pop-ups.)

 

 

--Disable remote image loading in your email account (however, this will cause many of your messages to show limited content) or not opening marketing email messages. 

 

 

--Clear cookies/cache/website data frequently (I do this at least once a day) and running a utiliy to remove "supercookies" (flash cookies, uber cookies).

 

 

__________________________________

 


 

@dooBdoo thank you, as always, for your great suggestions!! Smiley Happy

 

 Thank you, as always, for your great suggestions!! 

 

-- bebe Smiley Happy