How are these websites getting my address?

When you look up stuff on the internet they have your email address and there are directories where that can get other information about you. Don’t go to a porn site or you may really shock your parents. We have lost any real privacy.

How can they get my email address without permission? Is that not illegal?

I already had to delete my Facebook because I was having anxiety attacks after I found out it activated that thing where your friends can see all the websites you commented on without my permission.

I just can’t handle it. I have horrible anxiety.

And my home address isn’t linked with my email address…

@Moonaa There are websites that you can go to with an e-mail address or cell phone number and they will get you the name and address of the user. It’s a little creepy, but that’s the net today.

@Adirondackwannabe I think it’s because I’m on a mailing list now based on other stores I shop at.

Welcome to fluther. It could be that too. They all sell their mailing lists to other companies.

As @Adirondackwannabe suggests, you may have entered your personal information to buy something online or to register for a site and that site has then sold your information on. Without wanting to freak you out, there are tracking mechanisms that can monitor our mail, our searches and the sites we visit and sell that information to people who want to sell to us. Make sure you use some form of antispyware on your computer and run it regularly. Be careful where you place your personal information. Perhaps have a dodgy email address (Gmail) that doesn’t have your personal info and use that to register with sites you don’t want to share your real personal info with.

@Moonaa I didn’t even think to ask at first, but do you know about cookies?

@Moonaa “I already had to delete my Facebook because I was having anxiety attacks after I found out it activated that thing where your friends can see all the websites you commented on without my permission.”

WHAT?!?! Until now, I’d never heard about this. Could you provide more information?

I have a Facebook account . I access it maybe once a month; like the marvelous Betty White, I think Facebook’s a “huge waste of time.” Are you saying that my “friends” (mostly, a list of people I barely know) can track my internet searches?

That like button all over the internet. That talks to the facebook server. It tells facebook what you visit. It tells them what you like so you can be served “better ads”.

For fun lets see how pervasive tracking is… A popular blog techcrunch is a tracking monster. All the shit in the purple box in the lower right is tracking by companies that don’t run the site you visited. Image, here”.

I block them with ghostery.

It’s more likely you are getting these catalogs based on your debit/credit card purchase history. You going to those sites are probably more of a coincidence. Based on things you buy, companies can predict a lot about you.

@bobby C

I’m assuming that Ghostery is only available for computers since it’s not in the Android app market. But you did mention IOS, so I’m wondering about iPhone.

If not, are you aware of any apps which do something similar to what Ghostery does? Thanks..