 | By Mark Edwards Protecting your privacy is becoming more difficult with each passing day. Google and other service providers may be recording your Web surfing, but you can easily configure your system to protect against such tracking. |
Google Analytics can track your Web history
As you probably know, Google provides a variety of services beyond its search engine. One of those services, Google Analytics, is designed to help Web site operators track “where your visitors come from and how they interact with your site.”
Part of the process involves inserting JavaScript code (provided by Google) into a site’s Web pages. Then, when you visit the site, the script gathers various information about the your computer and browser (the last site you visited, your IP address, browser type, and more) and sets a cookie. The site operator can then review the Google Analytics data and use it as he or she sees fit.
From a Webmaster’s perspective, Google Analytics isn’t much different than many other Web tracking tools that are available. However, there are two major problems with third-party tracking services.
The first problem is that a site operator could modify a service provider’s JavaScript code to gather information beyond what might be expected.
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