Europeans sometimes seem to be much more ethical than Americans (and I am an American; well, a Californian, a state which, like Texas, sometimes views itself as a separate country), at least when it comes to privacy. This higher standard of ethics is leading to some serious friction between the two sides of the Atlantic.

What's all the hubbub about? In the United States, we have chosen (our legislature, which is really controlled by big business and special interests) to allow businesses to send spam, junk mail and collect marketing data (among other things) about people unless those people have opted-out. This means that once you will receive unwanted items, and you must take the time to tell each individual company that you don't want them.

On the other hand, the European Union has set a very different standard: spam and other marketing related items cannot be sent to people unless they specifically ask for it. This is a much higher standard for businesses, as they must now convince people to sign up for their literature and promotions instead of handling the few who bother to say no thanks.

In the United States, opting out applies to just about everything. Even the credit bureaus can sell your marketing information (remember those credit card applications you received out of the blue in your mailbox?) to anyone they want, as long as you have not told them it's not okay. Doubleclick and other agencies can build profiles of your surfing information, unless, of course, you tell them to knock it off.

Because of the laws in the United States, most marketing companies are now providing a way to opt-out from their profiling, pop-up (and under) ads, and sometimes even banners. Usually this method consists of setting a cookie which tells their ad server you have opted out. I know it seems strange to set a cookie to prevent a service from using cookies, but that's the way it works.

Links to the opt-out pages for some of the larger and more common annoyances are listed below. Click the link and follow the instructions. If, after clicking the link, you are asked by your browser or cookie software about a cookie, say YES to save it. Note that if you have disabled cookies (either altogether or for one of these specific sites) then these will not work.

If applicable, you might also read the privacy policies and other propaganda presented by these sites. They are very entertaining as they try very hard to make you understand how all of this is for your benefit.

Advertising.Com http://servedby.advertising.com/optout A large advertiser. Opting out will prevent profiling.

Be Free Inc http://www.yourcontrolpanel.com/mypage/pcp.html One of the larger internet marketing companies. "Be Free will be prevented from tracking any additional data in the future and will result in curtailing the delivery of personalized content to your desktop."

Blue Streak http://www.bluestreak.com/optout.htm Removes some ads and pop ups.

Comet Cursors http://download.cometsystems.com/no_nag/nonag.asp Stop seeing comet cursor nag screens.

CoreMetrics http://www.coremetrics.com/consumer_opt_out/ opt_out_options.html#optoutnow Opts out of ads served by Columbia House. Note that uRL above is on two lines and should be entered into browser as one line.

Doubleclick http://optout.doubleclick.net/cgi-bin/dclk/optout.pl One of the largest and most obnoxious internet advertisers. This will stop Doubleclick from profiling your visits.

Engage http://www.engage.com/privacy/confirmoo_privacy.cfm Opt out of this companies profiling.

Fastclicks.com http://www.fastclick.net/v4/optout2.cgi?234 "Click to win" ads.

Hunger Site http://www.interpolls.com/privacy/optout/optout.cfm Removes their pop under ads.

Interpolis http://www.interpolls.com/privacy/optout/optout.cfm Movie ads.

L90 http://ads.admonitor.net/opt_out.cgi Another ad server.

Rain Forest Site http://www.therainforestsite.com urnOffPopUnders Removes their pop under ads.

WebSideStory http://webveil.com/linkout/vwr1.hitbox.com/privcenter/edit.html HitBox.com, StatMarket.com, Yep.com amd WebSideStory.com.

X10.Com http://www.x10.com/home/optout.cgi?DAY=3000&PAGE= http://www.x10.com/x10ads1.htm One of the most hated advertisers on the internet, with their intrusive popups and silly product. This link will stop the popups for a long time. Note wrap on URL above.

Some Cautions

Remember that you must opt-out of each and every individual company or service. There is not a global, opt-out of everything magic button anywhere.

If you use more than one browser you must opt-out in each and every one. This is because the browsers do not share cookies.

The opt-out only applies to the computer on which you are on at the time. If you move to another computer you must opt-out there also. (Unless you are using something called a roaming profile, which means cookies and things follow you around. This is common in business environments but not in the home.)

The opt-out only applies to a single log on. This means if you opt-out under "Fred" and you then log out and log back under "Tom", you must out-out all over again.

Opt-out cookies do expire, generally within 5 years. So you must later remember to opt-out again.

If you clear your internet cache and ask that cookies also be erased (or you erase them with a cookie killing product) then you will lose your opt-out settings.

Further Information On Opting Out:

Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/protect.htm Sharing Your Personal Information: It's Your Choice

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