* * * * *
                                        
               “No matter where you go, there MyFaceSpaceBook is”
                                        
With the MyFaceSpaceBook [1] “Like” button [2] appearing all over the web, I
realized that the intent wasn't just to indicate that I liked a page, but to
track my web browsing habits. And it didn't matter if I was logged in or not,
because any reference to MyFaceSpaceBook involved browser cookies [3] and the
sites I viewed when logged out of MyFaceSpaceBook could be reconciled with me
when I logged back in.

So I started deleting any cookies dealing anything with MySpaceFaceBook
before logging into the site, and again deleting them after logging out and
closing the tab (that last step was important because I found out that
MySpaceFaceBook captured the “tab-close” event and set a cookie).

It suddenly struck me the other day though, that I have a static IP (Internet
Protocol) address and that it doesn't matter if I delete the cookies or not,
because MySpaceFaceBook could still reconcile any cookies sent to my IP
address since it never changes.

Sigh.

No, not only do they know I visit Cracked (I never did care for Cracked the
magazine, preferring Mad the magazine [4], but Cracked [5] the website is
miles ahead of Mad [6] the website) but also Justin Bieber [7] (not to be
confused with Justin Beaver [8]).

Um … that last site … with Justin Bieber … that's just to throw the
MySpaceFaceBook tracking off.

No, really!

Ahem.

Anyway … 

So, what's the point in trying to scrub cookies with MyFaceSpaceBook had me
pretty much pegged by my IP anyway? Even if I didn't have a static IP
address, it still wouldn't be that much of a shield, given that The
Monopolistic Phone Company™ probably uses a small pool of addresses for my
area anyway, and what with IP address geolocation [9], that would still give
marketers valuable demographic information about my web viewing habits [10].

[1] http://www.facebook.com/
[2] http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie
[4] http://www.magmagazine.com/
[5] http://www.cracked.com/
[6] http://www.madmagazine.com/
[7] http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber
[9] http://www.ip2location.com/
[10] http://www.ehow.com/how_2070267_paint-velvet-elvis.html

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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