Opt Out of Advertising Tracking Cookies
Posted on October 25, 2011 at 5:55 am
A few years ago, the powers-that-be in the United States instituted a national Do Not Call List, which gives citizens the power to opt-out of telemarketing phone calls. Internet advertisements can be just as intrusive as telemarketing phone calls, yet no Do Not Track List is even proposed in congress.
SelectOut.org is not a Do Not Track List, but it is the closest thing to it currently available.
As soon as your browser hits the SelectOut.org homepage, the number of companies currently tracking your Internet browsing habits appears in big numerals on the left of the screen. Our number is relatively low—we use good spyware and adware blockers.
On the right of the screen are options to opt-out of these companies’ tracking methods. The first option is to Opt-Out of All tracking cookies, but if you are as curious as we are, click the second option: Pick Opt-Outs.
A list of all current cookies on your computer displays, with the offending company’s name, whether or not the cookie is active, and an option to opt-out. Click the name of any company to learn more about the cookie.
SelectOut.org gives a detailed description of the company at the top of the page, and then gives the company a privacy score and explains why.
If you want, you can click through every company’s profile and decide whether or not to keep the cookie. Since we do not see a legitimate reason for any of these companies to track us any further, we selected the Check All button at the bottom of the main list, and then clicked Submit. We have now opted-out of all 49 of these cookies.
SelectOut then reports that you have been successfully opted-out of the cookies listed. That is it—you are done.
SelectOut.org gives us a new layer of control for allowing and disallowing companies to track our browsing habits. Just keep in mind that one visit to the site will not solve the cookie tracking problem. New companies begin tracking us everyday—so bookmark the site, and visit often.
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Using IE9 I don’t get a “Pick Opt-Outs” on their home page. I found it on the page linked with the “Learn More” button.
Very disappointed with this site. You never know when the app has completed its task. Plus it has kept opting out of the same sites every day for over two weeks on my PC. Very contrary to their claims. If the cookies keep coming back, it only duplicates what CCleaner and other apps do much more rapidly.
Has it functioned as stated for anyone else?