| Opt-out means that you
tell a company that you don't want them to use your
information for certain purposes or sell it to others.
When you opt-out of online profilers or dataminers
you are setting a cookie, a small piece of data,
that does not allow them to track your surfing habits
as you move about the web.
Online advertisers cannot see what is on your
computer, but by profiling your surfing habits
they hope to serve up better and send more targeted
ads to consumers. Because cookies contain what
sites you've surfed to and probably any transactions
you've made, companies can and do read that information
off your computer so they can target their marketing
efforts toward products you're more likely to
buy. Advertisers argue that online profiling makes
life easier for consumers because consumers don't
see unwanted ads.
It is natural to understand that companies need
advertising to survive and when used judiciously
and non-intrusively we support the use of Internet
advertising. However, we feel that privacy is
privacy no matter how you slice it and consumers
have a right to opt-out of being profiled.
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