Web bugs

What are they?

[grnidone]

The legal department for my client sawthis article [cnn.com] and is now very concerned about user privacy issues and how they relate to "web bugs". They seem to believe that doubleclick uses web bugs in banner ads and can track the last 10 sites a user browsed to, email addresses, passwords, and even what the user had for lunch yesterday.

I don't have a clue in the world about this issue.

1)What is a web bug? (Is it like a 'ping' used to track what banner ad users come from?)
2)How prevalent are they in banner ads?
3)What information CAN it really get?
4)How do they work?

-G

[Mike_Mackin]

Web Bugs
Microsoft Word Documents that "Phone Home"
Richard M. Smith, Chief Technology Officer, Privacy Foundation
August 30, 2000

Overview
Detailed Description
Vendor Contact and Response
Recommendations
Acknowledgements
Related Links

Click Here for a FLASH ANIMATION of "Bugging a Document on the Internet"

Overview

The Privacy Foundation has discovered that it is possible to add "Web bugs" to Microsoft Word documents. A "Web bug" could allow an author to track where a document is being read and how often. In addition, the author can watch how a "bugged" document is passed from one person to another or from one organization to another.

[privacyfoundation.org...]

[grnidone]

I am getting a 404 on the link...
-G

[WebRookie]

This may come in handy, about Doubleclick and cookies:

Cookies And Privacy
[perl.com...]

[grnidone]

OK...for anyone who cares, here is a good url:

[privacyfoundation.org...]

Essentially, it's a ping. I had always heard the terms "ping" and "one pixel transparent gif", but not web bug.

Guess I was asleep.
-G

[glauber]

This is another variation on the old problem of cookies that are set up to be returned to servers in a different domain. This is another good reason to use Opera (www.opera.com, and no, i don't work for them :)); you can set up that browser to accept only well-formed cookies.

g

[mivox]

You can set Netscape and IE to only accept cookies that return to the originating server/domain.

[grnidone]

*laugh*

Didja hear that guys? He is afraid of promoting Opera!

/me pulls glauber aside and whispers

Brett_Tabke, the host of these forums, is a *huge* Opera fan. Promote it all you want... ;)

By the way, I *dig* the way you sign your posts...

-G