Timely news of the bellwethers in computer and communications
technology that will affect electronic commerce -- since 1994
Your Host: Keith Dawson
This issue: <http://www.tbtf.com/archive/10-27-98.html>
Navigator 4.06 spies on you
Alexa technology, as used by Netscape, opens an alarming privacy
hole
Once you click the button for the new "What's Related?" feature in
Netscape Communicator 4.06 (or 4.5 beta), in its default configur-
ation the browser sends the URL of every page you visit thereafter
to a site owned by Netscape [6]. Thus Netscape (and anyone packet-
sniffing on the path between you and Netscape) acquires a complete
list of every web page that interests you. The "What's Related?"
button triggers an additional HTTP session with the host www-rl.-
netscape.com, which collects an electronic trail of your Web ac-
tivity as you wend from site to site. To prevent this tracking,
you have several options:
- Don't use version 4.06.
- Never click on "What's Related?".
- Set Preferences -> Navigator -> Smart Browsing to "completely
disabled."
Matt Curtin's writeup [6] provides more detail, and it's chilling.
[6] http://www.interhack.net/pubs/whatsrelated/
-- It was mentioned on CNN that the prime number discovered recently is four times bigger then the previous record. -- unknownRegards brd
Bernard Robertson-Dunn Canberra Australia brd@dynamite.com.au