21–30 of 31 posts
Alas, it seems in this case the only people who are aware of KISSMetrics' wrongdoing are security researchers (i.e., curious nerds), lawyers and some journalists. Perhaps if the general public knew, there would be a law.
"KISSmetrics tracking techniques worked even if a user had cookies turned off and private browsing mode turned on" Where can I read more about this 'unstoppable tracking'? (how) can one counter such attempts?
http://www.nikcub.com/posts/persistant-and-unblockable-cooki...
also posts with tips and more info in the archives:
What I do is I use 3 different browser, 2 is ok. All your 'apps' such as webmail, facebook, etc. you use on one browser. Install Disconnect, AdBlock, NoScript etc. and disable flash, java etc. on the second browser and use that for all your web browsing. Kill the history and cookies on this browser regularly. Don't ever be tempted to 'browse' using the browser you have your apps logged in on.
I have a third browser with flash enabled where I copy paste URLs into if I ever need flash for something, which is less and less often.
Forever cookies are pretty bad. I know someone made a library as a proof of concept, but yeah, don't actually use this.
This one? http://samy.pl/evercookie/ Can you explain why one shouldn't use this? Is there a law in US forbidding using Etags for cookies?
Forever cookies are pretty bad. I know someone made a library as a proof of concept, but yeah, don't actually use this.
This one? http://samy.pl/evercookie/ Can you explain why one shouldn't use this? Is there a law in US forbidding using Etags for cookies?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This one? http://samy.pl/evercookie/ Can you explain why one shouldn't use this? Is there a law in US forbidding using Etags for cookies?
Well, it seems KISSmetrics just had to pay 500K$ for doing just that. That being said, I'm also wondering which specific law they broke.
It's funny how the KISSMetrics guy thinks (thought?) he was doing absolutely nothing wrong. Let's go out to the internet-using public and ask random people, "Do you mind of KISSMetrics tracks you across the web, even if you have cookies turned off?" Alas, it seems in this case the only people who are aware of KISSMetrics' wrongdoing are security researchers (i.e., curious nerds), lawyers and some journalists. Perhaps…
Since my other comment got downvoted, people forgot the point. Read how strong this man defended and pretended to be so innocent when he was first accused: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9lN3hH-... Kissmetrics is a very shady company, just stay away from them!
I ask because I'm curious. Other than this episode, I haven't really heard much else about KISSmetrics being a bad company.
Forever cookies are pretty bad. I know someone made a library as a proof of concept, but yeah, don't actually use this.
This one? http://samy.pl/evercookie/ Can you explain why one shouldn't use this? Is there a law in US forbidding using Etags for cookies?
"KISSmetrics tracking techniques worked even if a user had cookies turned off and private browsing mode turned on" Where can I read more about this 'unstoppable tracking'? (how) can one counter such attempts?
I think I'm mostly safe the way I browse: Firefox with Cookie Monster denying everything (except whitelist), NoScript blocking all javascript (except whitelist), and RequestPolicy blocking all cross site requests (except whitelist).
In theory, this would not protect against the ETag header technique being used if it were being implemented by the site itself, but since I believe it was actually done via a 3rd party request to KISSmetrics' domain, RequestPolicy should block it.
Since my other comment got downvoted, people forgot the point. Read how strong this man defended and pretended to be so innocent when he was first accused: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9lN3hH-... Kissmetrics is a very shady company, just stay away from them!
There were a few technical aspects that he clearly lied about (like not using Etags for his cookies) but aside from that, is there anything else that makes them "very shady"? I ask because I'm curious. Other than this episode, I haven't really heard much else about KISSmetrics being a bad company.