AVG Anti-Spyware found 22 tracking cookies in my Firefox

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adkohl
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Joined: April 29th, 2007, 5:25 am

AVG Anti-Spyware found 22 tracking cookies in my Firefox

Post by adkohl »

Just completed my first scan with AVG Anti spyware and it found 22 tracking cookies in my Firefox browser. I scan regulary with Spywareblaster , Spybot and Ad-Aware SE, but nothing is ever found.

TrackingCookies: ( Detected and cleaned by AVG Anti-Spyware)
2o7,Adbrite,Atdmt,Burstnet,Cnn,Imrworldwide,Paypal,Realmedia,Serving-sys,Tacoda
.
How do i prevent websites or 3rd parties from installing these tracking cookies ?
Old Limpet235
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Limpet235 »

If you have Spywareblaster from Javacoolsoftware, & it's up to date & all functions enabled, then you should not get any Tracking Cookies. It's about the only app that stops them in Firefox, AFAIK.
I've got the same AV's/Antispyware etc + 1 or 2 more n never had a TC picked up by AVG..
Check SWB is fully updated.
HTH. :D L.
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DanRaisch
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Post by DanRaisch »

Better to just not be overly concerned about them. Tracking cookies are not actual spyware.

The only way to totally prevent their creation is to block the installation of all cookies from all sites. That will cause problems in logging onto legitimate sites for which you would want to permit cookies. If you are willing to commit the time, you can let AVG identify the tracking cookies and then use Firefox's cookie manager(Tools->Options->Privacy->Cookies->Exceptions button) to block the setting of those cookies on future browsing sessions. After that have AVG delete those specific cookies and they should not return. But others might.
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steviex
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Post by steviex »

I just do a clear up every so often, with several different programs .... Most time it catches ones that result from my (infrequent) use of IE or IE based applications (which insists on depositing one or two on my system).
Each program seems to catch ones that others don't.

You could also set Firefox to ask you each time you encounter a cookie, what it should do with it. (But that may get tedious after a while)
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein

Please DO NOT PM me for support... Lets keep it on the board, so we can all learn.
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greenknight
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Post by greenknight »

AVGAS is the best I've found at finding tracking cookies (sorry, LIMPET235, but SWB doesn't stop them all). It found over 200 the first time I ran it (back when it was still ewido). They really aren't much of a threat, but I clear them out anyway. You'll get fewer if you use the extension NoScript. It will protect you against a lot of more serious threats, too.
Win 10 Pro x64, AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6 core, 3900 MHz (4450 Turbo), AMD Radeon Vega (integrated graphics). 16GB DDR4-3200, Firefox 124.0.1, Developer Edition 125.0b5, Nightly 126.0a1.
adkohl
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Post by adkohl »

Is this extension,CookieSafe https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2497
any good in blocking tracking cookies ?
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Giorgio Maone
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Post by Giorgio Maone »

adkohl wrote:Is this extension,CookieSafe https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2497
any good in blocking tracking cookies ?

Yes, it will, I'm a happy user too.
It helps you to implement suggestions by DanRaisch and steviex about whitelisting cookies in a painless way, very similar to what NoScript does for JavaScript and Java.
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Madeline
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Post by Madeline »

Thanks for the suggestion, adkohl. I've just installed CookieSafe and hope to have less or even no tracking cookies showing up on my scans. Along with NoScript, even safer browsing! :D
Anonymosity
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Post by Anonymosity »

DanRaisch wrote:Better to just not be overly concerned about them. Tracking cookies are not actual spyware.

The only way to totally prevent their creation is to block the installation of all cookies from all sites. That will cause problems in logging onto legitimate sites for which you would want to permit cookies. If you are willing to commit the time, you can let AVG identify the tracking cookies and then use Firefox's cookie manager(Tools->Options->Privacy->Cookies->Exceptions button) to block the setting of those cookies on future browsing sessions. After that have AVG delete those specific cookies and they should not return. But others might.

Just modify that procedure slightly, and you will not have unwanted cookies. Make exceptions for the cookies you need and allow them. All the others are blocked automatically. Do not set the browser to clear cookies when it tidies up the other private data.
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Madeline
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Post by Madeline »

Thanks for the tips, Anonymosity. :)
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VanillaMozilla
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Post by VanillaMozilla »

Just set Firefox to clear cookies on exit. Then you still get the cookies for a few minutes while you are using the browser, but they are dumped automatically when you are done. They can track you for that session if you happen to hit any of their sites, but that's all.

For cookies that you want to keep, just change the cookie setting before you visit the site. And you can always view cookies and delete them manually.
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Madeline
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Post by Madeline »

Thanks for your advice, VanillaMozilla. :)
The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.
- Charles Bukowski
VanillaMozilla
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Post by VanillaMozilla »

You're welcome. The procedure is a little bit clunky, but it works, and you're not in the dark about what's going on.
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Madeline
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Post by Madeline »

:) Unfortunately, I'm frequently in the dark about what's going on and not just with my PC! These forums are gradually sorting me out though. Maybe this sounds a bit sad, but I read threads on here and KB articles to try to learn more about Firefox and what I can do with it. I've had Firefox since version 1.0 and have had only one problem with it since then, which was quickly resolved here.
The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.
- Charles Bukowski
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irs009
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Post by irs009 »

Cookie Culler extension will allow you to protect cookies you want, and remove those you don't.

The Idea is to remove unprotected Cookies when you are on a desirable site, let that site set it's Cookies, protect them and move on...Jack
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