Do you like privacy? Would you like being stalked while you are online? What if your online activities are being tracked against your wish? How do you see your way out of this if you really find it as a grave concern? Well, to some it may not be a bigger issue but for me...it really is a big concern. I spend most of my time online..say, 70% of my time is spent being online and just like many others I wish to keep it all private. But it doesn’t happen in real. While you are logged into any online service, it is inevitable to be traced against one will. With so much of being said and written about online privacy, one thing is for sure - No one cares and ultimately, we are made to live with the same. Online Privacy has reduced to online fallacy..!

Let us talk about facebook, the world’s biggest online social network with a user base of over 500 millions. Assuming most of us are a member of facebook, have you ever been worried of the fact that facebook is behind you always. Honestly, it is the ulimate stalker of our day to day online activities. Fine if these things were limited to the time we are logged in to the same. But shockingly, it has surpassed it all. Logged in our Logged out, you are being traced. This may come as a surprise to you but finally it is the truth. Facebook is doing the same thing which companies like Adobe, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo did, application of cookie tracking techniques. The cookie tracking technology is actually a controversial technology to track user and its online activities and then use the same for one’s business benefits.

Facebook has been denying it from long. It says it never misuses user data by selling it to the businesses but instead uses it for targeting better ads. The same thing is being said about its revolutionary “Like” button. The like button has been seen as a tool against one’s privacy but according to facebook, it is using it for the same purpose as for what it does when users are logged into facebook. Selling user’s data for one’s business benefits has never ever been the motive, as per what facebook says. Well, who knows...what’s the truth..!

Honestly, I do not like to be traced atleast not when I am not logged into any online service. To me, facebook claims like making use of data collected from cookies could be used to improve it security and its plugins, I really do not want this. I do not want to share my whereabouts while I am logged out of facebook or from any other online service. The best thing I could hope from facebook is to allow anything like opt-in or opt-out features for its services and surely for its online tracking business.

I guess I am not the only one. Around 70% of Facebook users and 52% of Google users were either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy, as per a very recent poll conducted by USA Today. That’s really sums up the whole issue. And to add to the same, the recent upsurge of link-spams leading to pornographic and violent content, have turned things from bad to worse. Time and again, it has happened and I don’t understand why facebook is unable to fix the same..Is it really concerned about such issues !!

Well, now over to my readers...do you really consider it as a serious matter? Do you agree to the fact that online commerce may suffer if such tracking is not allowed ? Does being tracked makes you uncomfortable? Or you see it as an acceptable behaviour?

Whatever it is, please let me know your thoughts..!

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