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Have you ever wondered why certain big websites, like the Huffington Post, take so long to load?

Ever get spam email about a subject that you just wrote someone about?

Do you notice how some ads on sites are directly targeting your personal interests?

Well it could be they're putting TONS of cookies on your computer that track what you do!

These cookies come from all those advertisements that appear on websites. They can track your browsing, check your emails and serve up ads and emails that target you based on the content you viewed or sent.

Not only do these cookies slow you down, but they some might also be malicious. Needless to say, many people don't want to be tracked without consent.

You can turn on "private browsing" in most browsers now. That should restrict cookies from be places on your machine.

You will have to make exceptions, for icmag.com, mag.icmag.com and any other site that uses their own cookies to help you stay logged in. It's the other third-party cookies that must be blocked, and some browsers may offer an option to turn those off.

It seems like the browser settings can override your operating system's settings, so check both.

For this site, you might also need to allow youtube.com, if you want, since it serves up the videos on icmag and elsewhere.

Ads on ICMag do not track you as they are just images with links, no underlying code. However when you visit an advertiser's site, they may have invisible third-party cookies like google, facebook, etc., as well as their own cookies and advertiser cookies.

Safe browsing to all! :dance013:
 
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Skip

Active member
Veteran
I usually use a news reader on my android tablet to read the news, which includes huffington and others, without having to browse each site. However, when I want to quote something from them, I need to be on a laptop, so private browsing helps a lot!

Turn off the cookies, and huffington post loads 3-4xs faster!
 
Ive noticed that yahoo homepage has a ton of weed news articles obviously tailored just for me. google not so much. hmmmmm. tor is nice but it slows down your comp alot. same w/ proxies.
 

Skip

Active member
Veteran
TOR was created by DARPA.
Many VPNs use routers compromised by the NSA (Juniper and probably Cisco - but they're keeping mum on this).

Now you know who is in control and watching everything.
 

Obsidian

Active member
Veteran
It's not the cookies it's Java script that slow the loading, jfc cookies have nothing to do with loading a page, they are tracking devices only between servers to serve you ads and gather data on your internet surfing habits.
Java code gathers more data than cookies and is more dangerous than you realize, injection etc...devious webmasters etc.
java code sucks, keep it turned off amap.
 
How do you do this on an iPad?

It can all be done with apps. First, get an adblock capable browser like Dolphin Browser. Then set up a VPN for your iPad, which can also be done with an app.

It depends how technically capable you are. You can lock down a phone just like you can with a computer.
 
^ Sorry, I meant to say that you can lock down a iPad just like a computer. The same mobile apps used for phones are compatible with your iPad.
 
Also, I'd like to mention that AdBlock Plus is a great tool for anyone runing firefox. It allows further controls other than just not allowing cookies.

Firefox also allows multiple users, which is excellent. I have 3 profiles. 1 for work, 1 personal, and a 3rd one specifically for VPN use. The one I use for the VPN has NONE of my personal info. I never log into any email or social media from that, it's strictly for this forum and a few other places. The settings for each of your Firefox profiles can be totally different. For this profile, I use super tight security settings, have adblock running strong, and have java turned off completely. No 3rd party plugins, no "media adapters", none of that shit. Browsing history is completely off. No cookies and no offline content.

People on Mac too, can definitely benefit from Firefox and its multiple user capabilities. It's worth checking into.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
Awe shit.time to get a new roll for my tin foil hat cause some of the stuff I just read scares the shit out of me.TOR is owned by DARPA skip? I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore.
 

Tricks4u

New member
Anonymous posting?

Anonymous posting?

What's up people, I go by Tricks, no, I'm not a hooker, just an old nick name from years ago, I'm a 56 yr old hippie from VA.

So, I do a lot of research here and a few other forms, have for years off and on, but living in VA with medical and legal all around me, I'm stuck in the madlands lol

I'd like to post some pics along with my questions, but want to post anonymously due to my location. If I was using a laptop it wouldn't be a problem, but can't afford a new one, so I'm using a kindle for now. I ran a anonymous proxy back in the day, we are talking dail up lol so I have no idea about this kindle.... Any ideas? Thanks peace ✌
 
Sneaky Cookie Trickery

Sneaky Cookie Trickery

I like to allow cookies, just in another profile or section so I have a bit of control, and use the cookies acquired to compile a list to block, gmail and facebook are both terrible at requiring cookies, a lot of them, but ad services are generally pretty easy, the hard part is just doing one site at a time, and until you have gone to a site with your protocol, the site must be considered blacklisted, getting completely secure online is a pain and never user friendly, but privacy and security is also quite suspicious to the entities that do track you if they be big brother, ad sites tho, I doubt would waste much to break your encryption and security.... but they do put a lot into doing just that..... So this site along with others worries me and I'm sure I'm not alone...


Best bet, get 2 devices, first one has dummy profiles and is a test device to assemble your cookie block list, second one has all the crazy security you can think of, vpn ran thru public wifi using your dummy device as a "hop", or home wifi, always could claim someone was stealing your wifi that way, as long as that device was never found, bottom line is you will never have privacy, our government and ultimately (I do agree here) all of our security an safety kinda it some ways does require them to be able to do those things, as long as you're not planning some extremist crazy terror plot, the big brother probably gonna stay away, the ads will still try to sell you everything they think you'll buy however
 

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