Everytime you visit a web page, that web page gathers information from you (your browser) in order to display the page. It usually just gathers simple information like the version (Internet Explorer/Netscape Navigator.) In some cases, the web page must gather more complex information, like browser plug-ins. (For example, if the page was designed to play music when it loaded, then it searches your browser for the plug-in to allow itself to be heard.) Most people do not realize all that can be gathered about the user (you) everytime they simply load a page. It can actually be a bit scarey at times... Some web sites even use the information they can gather for advertising and other means in order to promote their own growth. All this is done usually without the user knowing a single thing.
If you have made it this far, then I assume you are interested in learning more. The fact is that loading a web page might not be as "private" as you think. Even if you use a proxy server to connect to the Internet, it may forward your real IP number (electronic fingerprint) to the page. Click on the "snooping eye" below to see this all in action, or CLICK HERE to test how anonymous the proxy server you are using is.
Interested in other possible security/privacy issues? Check out our brief section on "Internet Cookies."
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ping on you?