google analytics opt-out?

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google analytics opt-out?

I installed the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on 0.9.1 for Safari a while back.

Just now I visited a site (MobileIron) and a specific page there (white paper page) and then moved on to do other things. I did not order the white paper as they wanted to collect my personal data for that. Shortly thereafter, on a completely unrelated web search (KVM switches) I get a Google Ad directing me to this Mobile Iron White Paper page. I therefore suspect that the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on 0.9.1 for Safari does not do what i suspect it should do.

Basically, I want to protect all my family members from all this personal data gathering by Google. What can I do while still having a function web (turning off cookies is not an option, I'm afraid). My cookies are already limited to sites I surf to.

Looking at my cookies I see a lot of cookies and caches as in google-analytics.com, google.ca, google,com, google.nl, googleadservices.com, googleapis.com googlesyndication.com, googleusercontent.com

What can I do to protect my privacy here? Should i use a different browser than Safari?

Posted on Jan 28, 2012 2:04 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 28, 2012 3:16 PM in response to Gerben Wierda

Your Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on won't shield you from everything because Google Analytics is just one of approximately one (or two) gazillion data mining tracking "bugs" on the Internet. 😉

But if you're serious about privacy, don't get paranoid. It's not that insidious. As a general rule, people you don't know just want to sell you stuff you don't need. So there's no need to become hypervigilant. It's helpful to become informed about how companies are mining your data. And that involves reading.

Time magazine ran an in-depth article about data mining last year. It's still online, so you can still read it at the Time website. There is another useful article at Time about opting out. Privacy Choice is another resource with tools that can be helpful.

(Personally, I've opted out of as much as I can, and in addition, I use Ghostery, which catches a lot of potentially intrusive bugs before they meet my data.)

Good luck.

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