Should we use Toolbars on our browsers or not?
Posted on July 18, 2007
Found Inside the Life Box-> Computer and Internet |
Should we use Toolbars on our browsers or not?
Among the many toolbars that is out there, perhaps google toolbar, yahoo toolbar, and windows live toolbar are the most widely used.
Most toolbars are free to download and use. Why? Why would a company want to spend its time and money creating a piece of software and giving it for free. There is a string attached to it?
By using toolbars you could be loosing your privacy. The company could be learning about you and finding marketers to sell you stuffs or push ads that you would click. They learn not only what kind of websites you visit but also learn about what you search, where you buy online and even what you buy. They have the power to know your personality. Does that scare us or am I the only one?
Every time you use Internet, toolbar owner could be keeping your browsing history in its database. They use what they call cookies kept in your computer to keep track your identity and the things you do
Toolbars are cool. You can take your bookmarks whereever you go, some allow you to highlight words you are searching on a page, they can keep track of your search history so you do not have to retype again. Some of them allow you fillup forms automatically such as your name address, and even your credit card number that you last used on any forms while buying an item such as on Amazon.com or loging into your email accounts. While many of the toolbars are created to promote the founder’s website and its products and services, they are useless to us if they are capable of stealing our identity. Consider this, when you active page rank feature of Google toolbar, it clearly warns you that it will spy on your activites!
As for me, a plain browser, firefox and no toolbars is what I use to enjoy the web. Without toolbars, I have more space on my window, and a little bit of peace of mind.
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