How can you clear Single pixel Gif

S

Stellor

Registered
Anybody know how to find "Single pixle Gif's" on your system?
What do they do, good or bad?
Do they track only your browser, or do they look at your hard drive?
If you use more then one browser, do they track all of them?
How do you see them and how do you get rid of them.
How much of a security threat are they?
Or do I just have a pair of noids?

Thanks for any help
Sam
G3 OS 10.2.8 IE 5.1, Safari, Opra
G4 OS 9.2.2 IE 5.1 & Mozzilla
G5 OS 10.3.4 Safari
 
I'm fairly certain that...

1x1 invisible GIFs (sometimes called "spacers" by web designers) are embedded in some HTML emails and web pages and tracked from a webserver. Indeed, any image can be tracked, but these small invisible ones are ideally suited for the task. When your email client or browser loads the GIF from the internet, that's when the tracking is done.

Tracking companies like Hitbox can somehow find out a number of things about your computer, like what browser you're using, what screen depth and size you're using, what platform you're running on, maybe your IP address (at least your ISP's IP address).

I don't think there's any security threat involved in this at all. The issue is privacy. Some care more about privacy than I do (at least when it comes to cookies and these GIF trackers), so being paranoid is sort of subjective. I think companies who utilize tracking services like Hitbox are doing it to improve the online browsing experience, so I think it's OK.
 
To answer your question about "clearing a single pixel GIF", I don't think that's the issue. The GIF is stored on a webserver on the internet, and if it's cached by your browser, it's not tracking anything (meaning it's harmless).
 
MDLarson's right. There is no smiling at the DMV.

Er, sorry... MDLarson's right. But the information transmitted by the tracking of these images is limited. They can only get your public IP address, which isn't a security threat within itself -- you can get the public IP address for anyone at anytime if you had the will and means. What else is transmitted is your browser identification string, which contains various information about your browser kind and version and the OS that you use. To see what header information your browser sends, visit here:

http://services.valdosta.edu/javascript/browser.html

Not to add to your paranoia or anything, but you're probably being "tracked" in some form every time you go to any website. I run a website myself, and I can see loads of information about the computers that have visited my site via log processing tools. IP addresses, OS versions, browser versions, country, etc. Of course, out of all the information websites and tracker images gather, there's nothing in the information that personally identifies you, your location, or any files or information stored on your hard drive. Kind of like being on a bad security camera at a convenience store -- sure, there's enough info on the tape to see that someone or something was there, but not nearly enough information to say who -- just a grey, pixelated blob on the screen.

Time to kick those two noids out the door. You're safe -- you're using a Mac! ;)
 
Thanks for the quick replies. My security noids are appeased, my privacy noids however are much harder to kick out.
Thanks again, you guys are great.
Sam
 
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