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Filed under: Browsers, Web

Ghostery 2.0 Firefox add-on coming soon, now with web bug blocking

by Brad Linder Jul 21st 2009

Ghostery 2.0
Ghostery is a Firefox add-on that alerts you when there are scripts running on a web page that track your personal information. We first covered Ghostery earlier this year. At the time, all it did was pop up a window letting you know what scripts are running on a given page. But the developer plans to release a major update that adds script-blocking capabilities.

Ghostery 2.0 won't exactly be an ad-blocking program. While it can be configured to prevent advertisements from displaying in your browser, the program's raison d'être is to protect your privacy, not to shield your precious eyes from advertising. Specifically, Ghostery identifies "web bugs," which are 3rd party services that track your data. This can include ad networks, behavioral targeters, and web analytics providers.

Tags: firefox, firefox-add-ons, ghostery, ghostery-2.0, web-bugs

Filed under: Internet, Browsers

Find out how web sites are watching you with Ghostery

by Brad Linder Jan 27th 2009

GhosteryGhostery is a plugin for Firefox that alerts you when you visit a web site using "web bugs," which are basically scripts that track your information for one reason or another. Ghostery currently tracks more than 100 different types of web bugs, and alerts you if a web page is using scripts from sites like Sitemeter, Amazon, or PollDaddy by displaying a purple window with a list of bugs on top of the web page you're visiting.

The alert bubble disappears after about 15 seconds. Or if you'd rather not see the pop up every time you visit a new web site, you can right click on the Ghostery icon in the Firefox status bar and suspend the service until you want to use it again.

Not every item that's classified as a "web bug" is necessarily malicious. In fact, most are simply the tools that web publishers use to place advertising on their site, or enable other features like third party commenting system Disqus. But normally many of these scripts are hidden. And if you want to know what kind of scripts on any web page are tracking you, Ghostery can help you find out.

Tags: firefox-addons, ghostery

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