posted on July 23, 2001 01:43:30 PM new
My sister-in-law has been a little resistant to use eBay as she is very protective of her real life info and doesn't want it sold to marketing outfits. She's the type who in real life sends letters to the Direct Marketing Association of America and demands to be put on the "do not mail to" lists, etc. She gives store clerks a hard time if they ask for her phone number when she writes a check because she fears the company will sell her number to telemarketers.
She's carried this ... alertness (she'd kill me if I called it paranoia) to the internet and for the reasons stated above she is very hesitant to buy anything online. If she goes to a website and sees something she'd like to order, she almost always uses the phone-in alternative (if there is one; if not, she passes).
But getting back to eBay: I finally convinced her to give it a try, explaining to her that I have been an eBay member for several years and the spam I've received has been minimal and never have I received a telemarketing phone call that I suspect was eBay-related.
So she goes to register and was IMMEDIATELY offended when the registration form came up with her e-mail address already filled in -- even though at no time did she input that address. She feels that eBay used some kind of software to harvest her e-mail address directly from her browser. I said no, that doesn't sound like eBay. So I tried it myself. First I cleared my cache and all my cookies, I even used a different ISP than I usually do -- and sure enough, that form came up in a heartbeat with my e-mail address already entered.
Now I'm offended too. What right does eBay have to go poking around in my browser to pull out my e-mail address? I detest this practice but I guess it's becoming mainstream now. Is there any way to block this spyware? I don't want eBay or anybody else peering into my system and extracting important info like my e-mail address. It's an invasion.
Any suggestions? (It's too late for my sister-in-law. She said, "screw that, I'll buy from people who just want my money, not my personal history." )
I would assume you and she are running Wintel boxes..
Probably, you have filled out e-mail information somewhere in your browser or e-mail program preferences and have been allowing scripts and Active-X to run (that's how a lot of Windows updates get automatically installed)
I imagine eBay just ran a script to see if your sis had her e-mail preferences filled out and harvested that info to auto-fill their page.
Try turning off scripting and Active-X and see what happens....then, enter some wierd info in your e-mail addy boxes on the browser and e-mail program and see what the page pulls up...
That's my guess...maybe the gurus out there can correct or expand upon it...
posted on July 23, 2001 02:00:01 PM new
c'est la vie.
Personally, I'm happy to have software fill-in as much info as possible, so as to eliminate the chance of me typing it in wrong.
as long as ebay doesn't automatically SEND any info to themselves, I certainly don't care.
By the way, I do a lot of things your sister does, in terms of guarding SS#s, not giving out info to store clerks, etc., so its not like I don't share her concerns. But until ebay (or anyone else) actually COLLECTS info without my permission, I don't care. It isn't "spying" unless info is passed without my consent, and I don't see that ebay has "spied" upon you, based on this example?
I do wish her luck in dealing with the future, as she appears to have set her tolerance level pretty low for this type of activity. She may find herself kinda isolated, dealing with fewer and fewer merchants...
posted on July 23, 2001 02:03:56 PM new
I went and looked at it in Netscape 4.76 and MSIE 5.5 and the email info was not filled in for me. So, IMO, it's not something ebay is doing, otherwise it would be consistant. It's probably more to do with your machines and how you have things configured on them (your browsers).
posted on July 23, 2001 02:18:30 PM new
Ebay Doesn't poke around in your computer getting your email address.
The address is save by the browser and stored in cookies.
The broswer auto fills in info you type in to it regularly.
This feature is either turned on or not the frist time you use your browser it asked you IE can remember and auto type these thing for you would you like IE to Auto fill in on forms for you yes or no if you choose no it saves and remembers nothing but will ask you the same question every time you fill out a form on the web.
if you choose yes from that day forword the broswer remembers everything you put in to a standard form email CC number SS# name address passwords and will auto fill in most form info for you when you type the frist letter or number.
not sure if netscape offers this feature but its built into IE since version 3 .
posted on July 23, 2001 02:29:06 PM new
It's reassuring to hear that it's not eBay's doing. We both use AOL. Could the AOL browser be doing it? If so, how do you shut off this function?
posted on July 23, 2001 02:37:25 PM new
I don't know how AOL works but for IE you go to the tools menu internet options click the contents tab and there you will find the auto complete feature to set it the way you want it click the button you can clear this like you clear your cashe you can turn different features of it on or off or turn them all off.
Considering you're using AOL, and are running on a system so ancient that one day soon it too will be considered a collectible, I'd say you're lucky if that's all you have to worry about.
posted on July 23, 2001 05:31:32 PM new
LOL, Kiawok. Thanks for the toughlove. It's nice to see you again.
But you make a very good point. I'm seriously considering bringing everything up to the 21st century standard (rather than making duct tape repairs every time a new challenge arises).
You should stop over to Round Table. We could really use some new/old blood (old is meant in a positive way, of course). As you said last week or so,
Good thing you weren't here a couple years back, todays AW is like a Church Social in comparison.
posted on July 23, 2001 11:57:04 PM new
Whenever you fill out the registration form, and it sends you confirmation via e-mail, in that e-mail is your e-mail address. Check the "link" you are supposed to click to confirm your registration. In that link is your e-mail address, that is where they get it. Not from a cookie or even ActiveX control.
That same line also contains the confirmation code that ebay assigned just to make it easier on you. A lot of companies do that. Ebay does not get your e-mail from some hidden source, you provided it, and it was just assigned to that link on confirmation. If you gave the correct e-mail address, then only you would get the correct link.
Ebay DOES spy on your activities while browsing categories. It does record your IP address each time you log into an account (if you use more that one, that is flagged, good or bad). It does flag certain searches and information that you bring up. All without your permission except for your User Agreement.
They use the IP addresses and such to track fraud. It is not a perfect way to do it when fraudsters use Anonymizing Proxies, etc. Even false IPs. But it does help against the small fraudsters.
posted on July 24, 2001 04:56:34 AM new
Take it easy on those store clerks. They're only doing their job. You can't really expect a store to take a check on you without any information, can you?
posted on July 24, 2001 05:39:20 AM newspazmodeus: Can't say I blame your sister-in-law. I am completely sick of unsolicited direct marketing (which wastes more of people's time than most realize), and am even more disgusted with how many companies sell me out to direct marketers. I don't bother shopping online much because of it, and am no-nonsense offline as well. I normally trust people, but distrust hype and dislike direct marketing. I want to buy the product or service I intended, not that *and* unwanted junk (e)mail or pesty calls. I do just great with no-nonsense shopping, and if anything, spend less time on it.
As to the other, I never enter my email address in browser software's setup or properties dialogs, and prefer to have a separate, dedicated email client anyway. Sometimes, drawing lines keeps the (casually or intentionally) nosy at bay. Besides, a dedicated email client is better at email anyway, IMO.
Otherwise, I browse with cookies off ~97% of the time, Javascript (just "scripting" or "active scripting" in IE) off 98% of the time, Java off 99% of the time, and ActiveX off 100% of the time. I don't happen to be into online games or other "flashy" websites, so at most of the sites I browse, the above are "cute" but mostly superfluous at best, intrusive or even destructive at worst. eBay can be browsed and bid through without any of the above anyway.
I don't know exactly what eBay might be doing, but I suspect it is a combination of scripting and a user's entering their email address into their browser's setup options.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
