Internet Privacy: Opting Out

Europeans sometimes seem to be much more ethical than Americans
(and I am an American; well, a Californian, a state which, like
Texas, sometimes views itself as a separate country), at least
when it comes to privacy. This higher standard of ethics is
leading to some serious friction between the two sides of the
Atlantic.

What's all the hubbub about? In the United States, we have
chosen (our legislature, which is really controlled by big
business and special interests) to allow businesses to send spam,
junk mail and collect marketing data (among other things) about
people unless those people have opted-out. This means that once
you will receive unwanted items, and you must take the time to
tell each individual company that you don't want them.

On the other hand, the European Union has set a very different
standard: spam and other marketing related items cannot be sent
to people unless they specifically ask for it. This is a much
higher standard for businesses, as they must now convince people
to sign up for their literature and promotions instead of handling
the few who bother to say no thanks.

In the United States, opting out applies to just about everything.
Even the credit bureaus can sell your marketing information
(remember those credit card applications you received out of the
blue in your mailbox?) to anyone they want, as long as you have
not told them it's not okay. Doubleclick and other agencies can
build profiles of your surfing information, unless, of course,
you tell them to knock it off.

Because of the laws in the United States, most marketing
companies are now providing a way to opt-out from their profiling,
pop-up (and under) ads, and sometimes even banners. Usually this
method consists of setting a cookie which tells their ad server
you have opted out. I know it seems strange to set a cookie to
prevent a service from using cookies, but that's the way it
works.

Links to the opt-out pages for some of the larger and more
common annoyances are listed below. Click the link and follow
the instructions. If, after clicking the link, you are asked by
your browser or cookie software about a cookie, say YES to save
it. Note that if you have disabled cookies (either altogether or
for one of these specific sites) then these will not work.

If applicable, you might also read the privacy policies and other
propaganda presented by these sites. They are very entertaining as
they try very hard to make you understand how all of this is for
your benefit.

Advertising.Com
http://servedby.advertising.com/optout
A large advertiser. Opting out will prevent profiling.

Be Free Inc
http://www.yourcontrolpanel.com/mypage/pcp.html
One of the larger internet marketing companies. "Be Free will
be prevented from tracking any additional data in the future
and will result in curtailing the delivery of personalized
content to your desktop."

Blue Streak
http://www.bluestreak.com/optout.htm
Removes some ads and pop ups.

Comet Cursors
http://download.cometsystems.com/no_nag/nonag.asp
Stop seeing comet cursor nag screens.

CoreMetrics
http://www.coremetrics.com/consumer_opt_out/
opt_out_options.html#optoutnow
Opts out of ads served by Columbia House. Note that uRL above
is on two lines and should be entered into browser as one
line.

Doubleclick
http://optout.doubleclick.net/cgi-bin/dclk/optout.pl
One of the largest and most obnoxious internet advertisers.
This will stop Doubleclick from profiling your visits.

Engage
http://www.engage.com/privacy/confirmoo_privacy.cfm
Opt out of this companies profiling.

Fastclicks.com
http://www.fastclick.net/v4/optout2.cgi?234
"Click to win" ads.

Hunger Site
http://www.interpolls.com/privacy/optout/optout.cfm
Removes their pop under ads.

Interpolis
http://www.interpolls.com/privacy/optout/optout.cfm
Movie ads.

L90
http://ads.admonitor.net/opt_out.cgi
Another ad server.

Rain Forest Site
http://www.therainforestsite.com urnOffPopUnders
Removes their pop under ads.

WebSideStory
http://webveil.com/linkout/vwr1.hitbox.com/privcenter/edit.html
HitBox.com, StatMarket.com, Yep.com amd WebSideStory.com.

X10.Com
http://www.x10.com/home/optout.cgi?DAY=3000&PAGE=
http://www.x10.com/x10ads1.htm
One of the most hated advertisers on the internet, with their
intrusive popups and silly product. This link will stop the
popups for a long time. Note wrap on URL above.

Some Cautions

Remember that you must opt-out of each and every individual
company or service. There is not a global, opt-out of everything
magic button anywhere.

If you use more than one browser you must opt-out in each and
every one. This is because the browsers do not share cookies.

The opt-out only applies to the computer on which you are on at
the time. If you move to another computer you must opt-out there
also. (Unless you are using something called a roaming profile,
which means cookies and things follow you around. This is common
in business environments but not in the home.)

The opt-out only applies to a single log on. This means if you
opt-out under "Fred" and you then log out and log back under
"Tom", you must out-out all over again.

Opt-out cookies do expire, generally within 5 years. So you must
later remember to opt-out again.

If you clear your internet cache and ask that cookies also be
erased (or you erase them with a cookie killing product) then you
will lose your opt-out settings.

Further Information On Opting Out:

Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/protect.htm
Sharing Your Personal Information: It's Your Choice

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