DG allows other companies to track our web activity ??

Do external companies plant web browser cookies on our PCs when we visit Dave's Garden? If I'm looking at this right, I think there are several companies that plant cookies on my PC when I come to DG. Here are just a few examples:
* ads.revsci.net/adserver
* ad.yieldmanager.com
* map.media6degrees.com
* pixel.quantserve.com

So what do these companies do with these cookies? Most of these companies don't publish their privacy policies. The attachment shows one ("AudienceScience, Inc." at pix04.reversi.net) that does post their privacy policy. The amount of information that this company gathers is amazing. This company says they track things like: web sites viewed, purchases and text of postings, likes/dislikes, etc.

Here is one section of their lengthy privacy policy identifying what they gather:

You can read the DG privacy policy by clicking on "Privacy Policy" in the footer of any page on the site. Here's the direct link:

http://davesgarden.com/aboutus/privacy/

You'll notice in there, right at the top, the reference to the third-party cookies, and the link to opt out, as well.

Thank you Dave.

Happy to help. ^_^

Well, my goodness, I am glad I saw that........ I opted out. Course, by now they already know it all I reckon, as I have not been savvy enough to realize I needed to look into privacy policy to protect my information from this sort of viewing....... Still, glad to learn about it. Thanks.

A word about those cookies; they don't identify you.

OK thanks. ;-)

Where is the option to opt out - I don't find it.

On this page: http://davesgarden.com/aboutus/privacy/ you'll see a sentence in the 2nd paragraph that reads "You may opt out of this tracking at this page" - it contains the link.

Well I declare...just came across this thread.

What great choices we're always given here!

DG ain't nuthin' but the best!

Dave/Admin, thanks a gazillion for all these courtesies (viewing ads/not viewing, cookies/no cookies, etc).

Shoe

this is true!

I too am glad I came across this information. I run a cleaner each time I am on the internet, DG being the one most frequently visited, and have been disturbed by the presence of 13 - 19 cookies each time I start the cleaner. I've opted out and hope to see that number reduced.

I opted out of everything at the Network Advertising Initiative's website earlier this evening, as suggested by DG's privacy policy. I double-checked afterward, and I was in fact opted out of all available sites.

However, l just cleared out my Temporary Internet Files and Cookies, shut down my computer and restarted it because it was slow. Being the curious person that I am, I went back into the Network Advertising Initiative's website to see what might have happened there. Guess what? I was once again OPTED IN for all these ad cookies! I guess every time you clear out your files or close down your system you have to opt out all over again. What a bummer!

Just a tip for ya'll who might be concerned about these kinds of things: I use the Adblock extension of firefox. It blocks all the outside cookies. It actually works quite well and works across all sites.

And I use Internet Explorer, which is why it ISN'T a permanent fix! LOL

Another reason to abandon I.E. and run Firefox. I keep a shortcut to I.E. handy for a few sites that don't play nice with anybody but I.E., but for 99% of the stuff I do on the web, I use and trust Firefox.