Identity Theft - How your identity gets tracked online

How much can Internet companies learn about you while you're surfing? They can actually learn a lot about you, your likes and dislikes, habits and purchase history. Here is how they can find this information:

1. You go to http://www.google.com/ and do a search on electronics stores.
2. You click on www.circuitcity.com
3. Whether you register or not, browser information and cookies can be retrieved from your PC by web sites that you have visited. The following Internet Explorer option, AutoComplete, is automatically turned on by default on home versions of Windows. Most companies configure Internet Explorer security features so that this option is turned off. When this option is turned on, personal information is automatically populated when conducting a transaction (e.g. purchasing a CD form Circuit City). In order to turn off this option: Within Internet Explorer, navigate to Tools menu, click Internet Options, click the Content tab; Under Personal information, click AutoComplete; Deselect any boxes that are checked; Click OK
4. Circuitycity.com now knows that you came to their site from http://www.google.com/. They know that your IP address is 168.105.79.52, (if using a firewall can translate to 192.168.20.7). Your IP address might also reveal the surfer’s ISP, town, company or school.
5. You navigate to http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/. This is a site you visit regularly to browse for news, but you are not a registered user. You have visited this site 6 times in the past month. You typically spend 30 seconds on the home page before clicking on the sports and business pages before leaving.
6. You navigate to http://www.cnn.com/. A banner ad network which is CNN’s partner recognizes you (not by name, but by computer) CNN uses technology that maps IP addresses to real-world locations. As a result, they are able to determine that you live in Schaumburg, IL.
7. You now register at the http://www.sweepstakesonline.com/ contest Web site. Sweepstakesonline.com now knows your name, address, phone number, gender, birth date, work phone and personal tastes. This information can now be sold or shared many times over. This information can be mapped to any additional information gleaned from cookies, such as previous Web sites visited. Hackers can break in and steal this information. If the Web site is acquired, the new company owns the information
8. You now navigate to http://www.amazon.com/ and buy a book. Amazon now knows all of your prior purchases, any product you have ever searched for, and all of your personal information. In addition, using a technique called collaborative filtering, Amazon is able to determine what other types of book you might want to purchase