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Opt-outs and Block Tracking

See who's tracking you at each website you visit, and stop them if you want. Privacy Alerts shows the tracking networks in use at the sites you visit. These tracking networks can track you from site to site as you browse and use the web. Now you'll be able to see and stop these networks from tracking you -- you can automatically block and opt-out of hundreds of advertising and tracking systems.

The Privacy Alert Window

As you browse, you'll see the privacy alert window at each site. We call it a privacy alert because itŐs a little window that appears once per site visit and shows you hidden things that concern your privacy at that site. It displays the many specific ways the site you are using is now tracking you. This shows you how this site is tracking you and what's being blocked for you.

HereŐs an example from Time MagazineŐs web site www.time.com which shows Time has put 25 cookies on the users computer, uses 6 different advertising networks, and also uses many web trackers to track itŐs online readers.

When and where is the window displayed?

By default the window does not show up unless you click on the Abine icon. You can changed your preferences in the preferences tab to have it come up each time you start your browser and go to a new web site, or every time you visit a site.

What information does the window display?

The window displays four different categories of privacy concerns: Trackers, Advertising Opt-outs, and Cookies. Each one is separated by a vertical line in the window and is defined below:

How do you know about this stuff / how does it work?

Abine looks for hidden code (javascript) or cookies at each site browsed and it knows something about which codes are being used for tracking you. It then displays this hidden information for you to see and allows you to take control over it.

What actions can I take from the window?

You can do four things directly from the privacy alert window to customize it or improve how much privacy youŐre getting from the site youŐre on.

Actions to take from the window:

  1. Block a web tracker: by clicking the "Block" link next to any web tracker, you can stop that tracker from recording information about you.
  2. Un-block a web tracker: if a site is not displaying correctly, it may rely on the web tracker being functional (rare, but possible) so you may want to or need to un-block a tracker. To do so, just click the block link and it will change to display "Not blocked". Done.
  3. View cookie settings: brings up a list of the cookies the site has on your computer and actions you can take including limiting the use of these cookies. Be careful, deleting cookies can cause some sites you have accounts on to cause problems logging in.
  4. Disable this window button: this button brings you to a page where you can a) turn off the window b) only show it if there are trackers to block and c) control how long the window is displayed before it automatically closes. See the options you can set for this window:

Privacy Info

In addition to the alerts, you'll have a privacy control panel for each site to help you see and understand the information being shared shared silently (and often without your knowledge) about where you go and what you search for and buy online. You'll be able to see what information the site is recording as you browse, from your location, tracking networks in operation, as well as any cookies or tracking information the site has put on your computer.

The control panel displays a simple summary of how the sites you visit are watching your behavior through these tracking, analyzing and targeting technologies. Here you can easily decide if and how each site is allowed to track you. Block ad networks, web tracking and even individual cookies with a single click.

Since cookies play an important and useful role in today's websites, it is not longer practical to turn them off entirely in the browser preferences. Abine can block cookies from online advertising networks, switch cookies when you switch online profiles, thereby reducing the chances of all of your online activity from being tracked and correlated.


Privacy Risk Level

It's hard to translate privacy risks into a simple score, but we've added the privacy risk meter to give a simple summary of the relative number of potential risks on any website. It can only provide a guideline what's most important is whatever personal information you've provided to the site and how easy it is to connect your activities here with other websites you use.

The risk level is calculated by going through each group of items that can compromise your privacy, and seeing if there is a potential information leak. The areas checked include:

  • Using a proxy server for your IP address
  • Allowing javascript trackers (of any kind)
  • Allowing cookies
  • Having an account at a website (if Logins & Accounts privacy app is activated)
  • Not using a shielded email address with an account (if the Safe Email privacy app is activated)

After all these areas are checked, the results are aggregated using a simple binary yes/no if there is or is not the potential for an information leak. The result is then presented as the privacy risk level.