Questions, Questions

The first question on your mind should relate to the links you have saved in your own "Favorites" (or similar) area before you found this site. As you recall, in our limited test, 60% of the .url files contained links to places unrelated to the actual destination.

Our Answer: You can...

• (1) Edit each link using the Command Prompt and Windows native tools as we demonstrated on the previous page.
• (2) Obtain a link editing program like "IE Shortcut Editor" from TelePro.co.uk. Find it here.
• (3) Write your own program that works on your particular system.
• (4) Try using what we wrote for ourselves - an option that we will make available soon after the launch of our site. Watch the Mall Offices main page for that announcement.

The second question is one of fairness. Is it fair to delete tracking methods from .urls?

Our Answer: In the absence of new technology, Customer A walks into Store C to buy a scarf. Store C either has what Custoner A wants or it does not. If Customer A finds a product, cash value is exchanged and Customer A exits the store. Store C records that a particular type of scarf sold and may order more of the same type depending on sales volume.

In the pre-internet days, Customer A might sign up to be on Store C's mailing list so Store C would have some information about Customer A on hand. Could Store C "monetize" their mailing list by sharing it with Store B which sells Lingerie? Store C could, but this would have occurred without Customer A's consent. The benefits accrue only to Store C in the form of a payment in exchange for the information. Even if Store B and Store C agreed to swap guest book information, value is being exchanged.

Now, if Customer A had been given the option to check a box which said "I don't mind if you share this information with anyone else", then Store C is absolved from any bad behaviour. Still, if Store C does not use discretion and sells its customer list to Shady Outfit Z, then the blame returns.

What limits Store C's available options? A moral duty to their customers. They must use their best judgement when deciding who sees their customer information including what they plan to do with it.

You (Customer A) click a link that takes you to Store C. Before you have entered the store, tracking firms are recording how you got there. An annoying pop-up announces that you can have a deal today if you give up your email address. You wisely click the close box. No need to hand over your email address to strangers. You look through several item/product options and select one. Have you been followed all along? Is data generated which relates to how long you have viewed each page and which items were examined? Will you now expect to see ads for items you considered in this store showing up when you are on a different site? You can count on it. The data harvesters depend on it. In the last step, you pay for the selected item plus shipping and provide the required information (name, address, credit card, security code, etc.). If you have enjoyed the visit perhaps you will save a link to the store in your Favorites area...and we've seen what gets stored there.

If someone had asked you to wear a camera on your shoulder when you went shopping then hand it back to them when you returned, would you do so? No. You deserve the respect of your private space.

But data gathering firms are not interested in your opinion. They gather because they (technically) can...and they have clients willing to pay for that information. Are they at all concerned with the rights of the store's customers? No. That is not part of their business plan. And regardless of what a finely printed privacy policy on Store C's website might say, Store C has suffered a moral lapse by permitting others to invade their customer's privacy.

Marketers use the data gatherer's information to improve ad targeting. Retailers (it is assumed) push more product because consumers who fit a certain demographic now know about their products. And tracking companies use the increased retail traffic to build an even larger portfolio of customer data which can be sold to anyone willing to pay. What a tidy little circle.

So now the real question becomes: Once you find a store for the first time, how does any of this benefit you - the consumer? It doesn't. Your role in this story has been monetized...and that sounds a lot like the Shady Outfit Z scenario outlined above.

Therefore any steps you wish to take to block tracking (including removal of unnecessary tracking information in .urls) is justified. You merely seek to restore the proper balance between yourself and those with whom you wish to conduct business.

Tools are now available. Steps are required. To see what those are, read on.