If you have access to the Internet, then you can be tracked.  The majority of people don’t realize how easy it is to be tracked online.  These types of tracking are used to mark patterns and trends of a persons online behavior.  Companies track you so they can then provide you with target advertising, to later sell your information to other companies so they can do the same.  The level of information gathered online is x10 compared to a basic telemarketing technique.  You know, those annoying junk mails you get at home, or the telemarketers that call your home.

Being tracked online can be as simple as targeted ads.  However, there are ways when being tracked can negatively effect you.  The information being collected about your personal life and Internet activities can ultimately be used against you if ever needed.  Once you submit anything to the Internet, it is there forever.  Even if you delete it, somewhere it still exists.

Tracking companies build detailed, hidden online profiles out of your browsing activities over time, like the sites you visit most often, the things you buy and click, and your GPS location. They correlate that with other personal information you’ve provided offline for things like account signups, rebate cards, vehicle registrations, and marriage licenses. It’s all bought and sold in “grey markets” for personal data that you can’t see or access.  The end result: and you may never know why you’ve been turned down for that car loan, a better job, a dating site, or a new credit card provider.  – Sara Downey, author of The Privacy Blog

 

How you can be tracked online

Cookies:

Are small pieces of data that are stored on your computer after you visit websites.  Visiting websites “flag” your

computer with a cookie that is later used to re-identify your computer.

It is like when you log into an account, you press the “Remember Me” button, except cookies are hidden.  Cookies are also the past websites that pop up when you type in the address bar.  Cookies allow websites and advertising networks to know when you have visited other sites in their network.

 

IP Address:

With your IP address, websites can 1) determine your geographic location down to the level of your zip code, and 2) keep track of all connections from the same IP address. If your IP address doesn’t change, then they have a good idea that it’s you every time you visit.

 

Web Bugs: are invisible and embedded into a website’s HTML to track the details of your visit (who is viewing the page, when, & from what IP address).  Web Bugs can track you as you move from one website to another within their network.

** JavaScript trackers, SRC tags, Browser fingerprinting

 

Browser History:

Networks make a list of the websites they are interested in following.  These networks can find out whether or not you have visited those websites through browsing history through JavaScript or Cascading Style Sheet.

 

Track from you iPhone:

 

Apple’s iAds target their ads based off of your Safari history.  You do have the option to turn off the iAds, however Apple buries the “off” switch deep in the phones preferences.Also, unless you turn off the “Do Not Track” feature on your iPhone websites have the ability to track you both on their page and on other websites that you visit while online.  They can even track you after you exit the website.Another way to use tracking on your iPhone is by using the GPS feature.  Your iPhone can serve as a real-time GPS tracking device. The person holding the phone can be tracked, pinpointed on a map, and not even know it.  If the person tracking does not own the phone being tracked, that is extremely immoral and illegal in certain states.  The app “Find My iPhone” allows the tracking to happen.       The catch is that the phone being tracked has to be within a Wifi enabled area.

 

If after reading this page you feel that you are uncomfortable with the amount of exposure you give off while online… There are ways to minimize companies from tracking you.