Facebook Tracker

What is a facebook tracker and where do I download this mythical beast? A facebook profile tracker is something that - wait for it - does not exist. Most people are becoming more and more wary that their online activity is being watched. And they are right to be worried, because it is. But not by some stalker or ex-girlfriend intent on finding out who you have been sending private messages to on facebook. Good grief no! It is much worse than that.

The major search engines watch everything you do. Every thing. And they use this information for some pretty inane purposes - mainly to sell targeted advertising slots to people who wish to sell you things. The problem is - they have a vast database of information that they are more than willing to sell on or - if you are unlucky - hand over to the authorities when pushed. The most recent move towards more targeted advertising on facebook.com was the announcement that they were going to use your personal images to attract the attention of your friends to get them to click on ads. If you don't want that - I wrote a detailed guide as to how to turn that off here - facebook using your photos to sell ads to your friends.

I spent quite some time delving into the possibility of tracking the activity of other users on facebook - and no way it is available. Facebook (and all the other social networking sites) want to keep your browsing habits and activity for themselves.

Of course - this means you do not have to worry about your activity being tracked - by anyone other than the following: The Government Inc, the owners of the search engines, any website you visit on the Internet (as a matter of course, google tracks and offers the website owner detailed information on how they came to your site, their physical location within a few meters, and where you went after leaving their site); anyone with access to a receiver if they are within range of your wireless internet router.

So - don't worry - Big Brother is watching you closely - He is just not likely to tell your husband what you are up to. As for the facebook tracker application - don't waste your money if some one tries to sell you one - they do not exist. The same applies to most of the other social networking sites, although a few of them do offer analytics regarding your personal profile and pages you might have created.