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Thread: Anyone else have their browsing tracked by Staples?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Anyone else have their browsing tracked by Staples?

    This afternoon, I looked at a shipping box on the Staples website, without logging in to any account on that site. (As far as I know, I don't have an account.) This evening, I get an email from staples@easy.staples.com with the subject "Yep: You had your eye on this, so we saved it for you." and the ad for the shipping box. Does anyone else experience this sort of browser tracking and targeted advertising? If I had logged onto an account on the Staples site, the email wouldn't have surprised me.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
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    Yes I have Stephen, and it was from Staples.............Regards, Rod.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    I also got one, but I have an account, so I figured I must have a cookie that identified me.
    But if you don't, I would ask them where they got your email address.

  4. #4
    There's a big push industry-wide (on-line advertising) to track folks by where they've browsed, their IP address and so forth, correlate it w/ other databases, and to then market that information to advertisers in new ways --- the industry is still feeling out what is acceptable to consumers, and won't create an instance of government "whack-a-mole", where the folks who offend consumers result in new legislation (there are a number of on-going investigations).

    It would be much better if we all as citizens wrote to our representatives and worked out some reasonable level of privacy expectation and enforceable guidelines for how such companies gather and share and sell information.

    Remember, if it's free, you're the product.

  5. #5
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    I'm being tracked or hacked by someone identifying themselves as Amazon.
    After making a purchase through Amazon I started gettting emails telling me that my Amazon purchase had been successfully canceled. Each email is a different product, non of which I had made.
    I contacted Amazon and they furnished me with an email address to forward these phony messages to their fraud investigation. After 6 or 8 times I reported them I noticed no decrease in the emails so I quit sending them.
    They continue to show up. I guess there's no way to stop them. I reported to Amazon that nothing had changed and would they please explain, but they did not respond.

  6. #6
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    By the way, resist downloading and activating caller ID apps. They are a way of sharing with everyone who is on their list and the "spoofs" will increase dramatically.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Ignorance is bliss I guess. I’m probably missing out on some cool stuff but aside from a couple of map apps I don’t use my phone for anything but a phone and I don’t give my private info to anyone I don’t know or trust. It does annoy me that Amazon remembers every mouse click I make when I’m on their site but other than that, and the ~50 a day spam emails in my gmail account, I don’t see big brother very often. I rarely get spam phone calls, or spam emails in my main account.

    My wife probably has 100 apps on her phone & iPad and gets spam calls & emails all the time...
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Jobe View Post
    I'm being tracked or hacked by someone identifying themselves as Amazon.
    After making a purchase through Amazon I started gettting emails telling me that my Amazon purchase had been successfully canceled. Each email is a different product, non of which I had made.
    I contacted Amazon and they furnished me with an email address to forward these phony messages to their fraud investigation. After 6 or 8 times I reported them I noticed no decrease in the emails so I quit sending them.
    They continue to show up. I guess there's no way to stop them. I reported to Amazon that nothing had changed and would they please explain, but they did not respond.
    It is very unlikely this had anything to do with a purchase from Amazon. They aren't coming from Amazon and the senders probably don't know you have an Amazon account, they just assume most people do.
    This is very similar to the emails that say you account at XYZ bank has been compromised and to click on the link to reset your password. They are just hoping to find someone that has an account at XYZ bank.

  9. #9
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    It would shock the pee-wad out of most folks if they knew how much of what they do online is tracked. Ever use speech to text on your phone? They have every word safely tucked away for later use. There are certainly methods to minimize this (don't save passwords, flush all browsing data on exit from your browser and so forth) and you will have to decide on the trade off between convenience of use and a threshold of privacy.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Page View Post
    [COLOR=#333333]... but other than that, and the ~50 a day spam emails in my gmail account, I don’t see big brother very often. ...
    Yikes, do you mean you see spam in the gmail inbox? I probably see one every few months, if that. I do get spam messages but gmail puts them directly in a spam folder and deletes them automatically after so many days.

    I don't even look at what's in the folder. The last time I did I realized I was missing out on millions of $$ from overseas, lots of woodworking plans from Bryan P., and countless morally deficient young ladies trying to contact me for some reason.

    JKJ

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Sorry, yeah, I meant my gmail spam folder, I rarely get them in the inbox. Gmail does a very good job of filtering.
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
    Andy Rooney



  12. #12
    In FireFox you clic on the menu 3bars upper right and open a private browsing window. The you can browse anonymously pretty much.
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  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Bert Kemp View Post
    In FireFox you clic on the menu 3bars upper right and open a private browsing window. The you can browse anonymously pretty much.
    Careful. I am not a FireFox user, but other browsers specifically state that your browsing history is private on the user's PC only; you can't hide it from your ISP, or employer, etc..

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    Careful. I am not a FireFox user, but other browsers specifically state that your browsing history is private on the user's PC only; you can't hide it from your ISP, or employer, etc..
    I know not much about computers but I believe this is correct... Firefox privacy mode just keeps cookies from being delivered. It keeps your purchases, searches "private" from others who might use your computer. Your browser history is wiped every time you shut down Firefox. The only pain to this is you have to re-enter passwords on all the sites (including sawmill creek) each time you open that page. The "remember me" box doesn't work in private mode.

    without private mode, the banner ads on basically every website, everywhere, will be tailored to your browsing history. If you often search for tools, you'll get tool related ads. If you search for hotels, you'll see more travel based ads. This targeted ad placement is the future and the future is now.

    isp providers and employers can still track your page visits just in case you are suspected of looking at naughty websites at work or searching for how to build a bomb or something. Getting the info of your browsing history from your isp usually involves a court order, I think. When was the last time you read your "Terms of Service Agreement"? If you choose to use the web, you've agreed to these terms.

    Online, there is NO privacy in the traditional sense. I assume everyone can see everything I do online, no matter what.

    im not on Facebook, but my understanding is that site contributes to more "private" information being shared than any other site. People willfully share just about everything on there from what I understand. Analyzing the searches that happen through Facebook is where the data mining industry thrives

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    For me it happens through my Yahoo mail account. I can go to a number of web sites shopping and receive an email with an offer for the type of item I was shopping for.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

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