[G4] AT&T/Yahoo AND SOMETHING CALLED WEB BEACONS...

[gifutiger]

Also called a Web bug or a pixel tag or a clear GIF. Used in  
combination with cookies, a Web beacon is an often-transparent graphic  
image, usually no larger than 1 pixel x 1 pixel, that is placed on a  
Web site or in an e-mail that is used to monitor the behavior of the  
user visiting the Website or sending the e-mail. When the HTML code  
for the Web beacon points to a site to retrieve the image, at the same  
time it can pass along information such as the IP address of  
thecomputer that retrieved the image, the time the Web beacon was  
viewed and for how long, the type of browser that retrieved the image  
and previously set cookie values.
Web beacons are typically used by a third-party to monitor the  
activity of a site. A Web beacon can be detected by viewing the source  
code of a Web page and looking for any IMG tags that load from a  
different server than the rest of the site. Turning off the browser's  
cookies will prevent Web beacons from tracking the user's activity.  
The Web beacon will still account for an anonymous visit, but the  
user's unique information will not be recorded.



Also see:

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Web_beacon.html

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On Jan 10, 2009, at 11:47 AM, Richard Ramsowr wrote:

> This has been my day for AT&T issues and Yahoo BS... don't get me  
> started on that!
>
> Question what is a web beacon?
>
> Is it needed?
>
> Why?
>
> And how does it compare to a cookie which we can dump at at will?
>
> I do not think this is true of web beacons!
>
> And yes, I do find  the op-out button and made good use of it
>
> Last question... why would anyone want to op-in to such a devious  
> program?
>
> What does one loss by remove oneself from the web beacon program?
>
> Later folks
>
>
> Rick
>
> Rick
> Houston
>
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