I recommend the Wall Street Journal's series on computer tracking. I also recommend using Firefox for your browser. The add-ons, available on the tool menu, called Better Privacy, Ghostery and Beef Taco are all good possibilities for increasing your control over what gets put on your computer and who collects data about your habits and preferences.
Much of the current situation in computer tracking arose from the irritation people had when signing into something, such as email. Too much trouble to do that over and over during a session? How about if we put a small, unobtrusive file on your computer that says you have signed in and the program you want accesses that little "cookie" and lets you in faster and more conveniently? One thing led to another, as it definitely will when millions of bright, energetic and ambitious people get together, and before long, someone realized that using those little cookies to do other things might make some money. The articles linked above on the Wall St. Journal seem a good overview of the situation.
I am just now trying out Ghostery on a couple of our machines. As a long-time public employee, I spent lots of time knowing that the whole public could and did have access to information about me. I like people and I like teaching. I don't want to be a hermit and I needed to pass muster to be allowed to teach children. To meet those goals, I need to live among others, who will definitely know me, computers or not.
It seems to be yet another issue that bears watching. Having information (when you are interested) about who is doing what to your machine can be eye-opening. One of my machines required me to reload the operating system, something I had not had to do in 25 years of computing. That was informative! So much I was used to was gone. I had slowly accumulated many items that I really didn't need or use. So, if you get too hyper about the problem, try re-loading the system and see what you think then. Or, buy a new computer and try to keep it stripped down. You can always disconnect from the internet but so far, the web has been lots of fun and convenience.
