Spam Prevention!

[Striker]

Ok! Question! Can a malicious website get personal information on you by simply visiting their site??? (i. e. E-mail address, phone #)

Does this have anything to do with "Cookies?"

The reason I ask is because I recently changed my E-mail address and it has helped some but not completely. I just delete everything anyway I was just wondering how it all works!

[DrZaius]

Hi Striker,

Cookies are used to store information for web sites. For example, if you visit a web site often and need to enter a name a password (like the PC Mech forums), a cookie can be used to store that information so it is done automatically. If you visit a site and enter your name and address then yes, that information can be stored in a cookie for that web site (and maybe others) to see. However, this information (name and address) can not just be "found" out of thin air off your computer. Most cookies are good and make things easier on web sites, but some banner ads use cookies to track which sites you visit in order to target specific ads for you, which isn't too good if you ask me. Great information on cookies can be found here:

http://www.cookiecentral.com/ and http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html

Hope that helps.

[DrZaius]

...also, to answer your second question,

The best way to prevent spam is to not give out your e-mail address too often. There are lots of sites that have the little text boxes that offer free newsletters and updates, and it only takes one of these sites to get your address and distribute/sell it to spammers. If I need to enter my email address for any reason on a site (for example, to register somewhere) I always read their privacy policy and make sure they don't give out addresses to third parties, or "selected companies that offer products that may interest you," as they call it.

[HAL9000]

What I have done is create a hotmail account that I use that e-mail address at a site that requests it and I let all the garbage go there.

[Striker]

Right Zaius I don't plan on giving out my e-mail address unless I absolutely have to. And yes I'm guilty of not reading the fine print! I will from this point on though

[Striker]

Hi Hal Nine Thousand were up awfully late! LOL I do have a Yahoo account maybe I'll use it from now on!

[HAL9000]

I'm always up late... I constantly tell myself that I will go to bed early, but never make it before midnight.

[Statica]

& dont bother responding to the unscubscribe tag line. That would be just confirming existence of your email address.

[mairving]

To further answer your question about cookies. A site can only read a cookie that it has deposited itself. If you have not left your email address, etc on that site then it can't read it out of someone elses cookie where you did leave the info. Some cookies are a little bit malicious. For instance, DoubleClick who runs a lot of ad banners has been accused of a bit of spying. They will drop a cookie on you without you visiting their site. This is done by the ad banner linking back to their page.

You should definitely have a hotmail or another free account. Usually the bigger the site, the more likely they are to sell your lists to spammers. Some have even violated their own privacy statements by doing so. Another trick of spammers is to send out bulk emails to big isp's like aol & msn using dictionaries and names to fill in the first part. Statica is definitely right about the unsubscibe. Never, ever respond back to someone that has spammed you. This just confirms that you exist. You can complain to your isp about them though. I also have set up filters in my email. Anyone sends me an email from one the spammer sites (msn, aol, usa) gets deleted.

Another thing that most people don't realize is that the name of your computer shows up in the referrer logs. A lot of people when they set up their computer use their full name. Well this goes into a log file somewhere. Also they can tell where you have been, what keyword you searched to get there, etc. I always start and end each page on google to throw off the tracks a bit. I have also made the name of my computer a little bit of gibberish.

[Striker]

Hmmmm! I have tried to unsubcribe many times to various websites and of course your e-mail get's thrown back in your face. Par for the course I suppose huh!