Statcounter - Spyware

Post by **arjay** » March 5, 2008, 8:30 pm

I suppose I should be directing this question at Lee, but also wondered whether any other members get the same thing?

When I load up Udonmap Forum, make a posting, or refresh a page on Udonmap, I note in the bottom left corner of the browser (I currently use Firefox) it tells you what it's doing, e.g. connecting to udonmap, waiting for udonmap, etc. Well I note with the udonmap site it also makes reference to "statcounter". It's a bit too quick for me to read exactly what it says, but I think it's something like 'waiting for statcounter" and then "tfrg to statcounter".

When I run Piriform CCleaner, AVG Anti-Spyware, Spybot or one of my other spyware programmes, I notice that they always pick up "statcounter" as medium risk spyware, and remove/delete it for me (along with another common one, - "imrworldwide", which isn't associated with udonmap, but appears to come from another of the websites I regularly visit, possibly a BBC one).

Am I right to conclude that "statcounter" is an item of spyware that udonmap's system puts onto our PC? If so, for what purpose?

Post by **beer monkey** » March 5, 2008, 8:45 pm

its this site arjay...it 'counts the stats' on the u/m web site.

http://www.statcounter.com/

http://c7.statcounter.com/

Post by **BangkokButcher** » March 6, 2008, 4:34 am

It's not spyware, but it does track your footsteps on the net, basically the cookie holds a few bits and pieces of info about you, nothing too malicious I hasten to add, just stuff like what browser you're using, what site you came from before UM, what site you went to after UM, your IP address, what browser and operating system is being used, your country, if you're a unique (new) or returning visitor and all that sort of stuff.

Here is their privacy policy:

StatCounter - Privacy Policy

StatCounter.com respects the privacy and rights of its visitors. No effort is made to identify individuals without their knowledge.

* When a visitor requests pages from the StatCounter.com site, our Web servers automatically log the browser's domain name, and IP address. This information is collected solely for statistical purposes and is not used to identify individuals.
* To enable StatCounter.com to track your unique visitors we send a cookie to your visitors' computer. This information is collected solely to improve the service we offer to you and statistical purposes and is not used to identify individuals.
* StatCounter.com maintains a strict "no-spam" policy. Your e-mail address will not be sold to a third party.

Nothing to worry about, but tracking cookies are usually picked up as spyware.

Post by **farang** » March 6, 2008, 4:50 am

LOL

na

Post by **arjay** » March 6, 2008, 9:57 am

Does it know my shoe or underwear size too!!

Well it gets zapped by me on a daily basis, because if I don't run one of my spyware programmes, I do run CCleaner and that removes it without hesitation or deviation!

Post by **aznyron** » March 6, 2008, 9:58 am

I don't like being track on my computer \ where i go is my business not some marketing company\
and I also don't like spending money on spyware like spy eraser & spyware doctor which cost me over 40 bucks a year\ now I hope you readers can understand my post \

Post by **Aardvark** » March 6, 2008, 10:52 am

None of us like it Ron, but thats the price you pay for useing Cyber Space. I use CCleaner same as Arjay [ recomended on this forum by Pops ] and it does a great job. If you dont have it, you should download it. It's Free !!

Post by **aznyron** » March 6, 2008, 12:10 pm

Aard I have ccleaner and also system mechanic reg mechanic and whole bunch of other utilities
that clean registry and junk files I also have some free spy ware programs like spy bot & ad aware
I probely spend over 150 usd a year on software to keep my PC clean & free of debris
like you said Aard that the price we pay nothing we can do about it except go into our wallets & pay

Post by **Aardvark** » March 6, 2008, 12:14 pm

God bless your Wallet my friend

Post by **lee** » March 6, 2008, 12:16 pm

The counter is on each page of udonmap.com solely for statistical purposes, it's been on here for over 3 years now. Thousands, if not millions of sites use the same service.
We use the information to count daily visitors, country, browser, keywords used to find the site, popular pages etc. It's very useful information, and also gives us information to present to sponsors if needed. It also helps me design the site to match the most popular web browser, page width, language etc.

Here are a few recent stats;

Yesterday we had 1,400 visitors, 983 of those were first time visitors, 8,000 pages were loaded, most popular keyword used to find the site 'Udon Thani'. The last 100 visitors 60% came from Thailand, 20% Australia, 10% US, 5% Japan, 1% New Zealand and 4% unknown. Most popular page 'udonthaniforum', top seach engine used to find the site 'Google', longest visit length 30 minutes & most popular browser was MSIE 7.0 for the last 100 hits.

Post by **Aardvark** » March 6, 2008, 12:27 pm

With those Stats Lee how about including Oz in the "Currency Exchange " You have included countries that have nothing to do with this Forum.

just a thought

Post by **lee** » March 6, 2008, 12:53 pm

There's not much I can do about that one, it's the default widget provided by Bangkok Bank.

Post by **beer monkey** » March 6, 2008, 5:54 pm

Yeah Lee ..i need to know how many Baht i will get for my Zambian Kwacha's and a Giant Glass Jar full of Ugandan Shillings i picked up over the years.

Post by **lee** » March 6, 2008, 6:03 pm

...and maybe a pound, shillings & pence convertor for our more mature members.

Post by **uncle tom** » March 7, 2008, 3:48 am

If the US Government monitored internet usage or planted cookies without permission, citizens would be outraged. Even if the intent was to search for terrorists, americans would still be screaming.

However, when private organizations do the same, we just blindly accept. I can easily acumulate over a thousand cookies on my machine. Some of these cookies have been planted by people or organizations that have no business monitoring me.

I suspect that some web sites sell the right for others to post cookies from their web site. Can anyone shed light on this?????

Now I turn off the cookies except for a handful of sites that I trust. If a site won't let me log in without the cookies set, I don't log in.

Post by **747man** » March 7, 2008, 11:12 am

beer monkey wrote:Yeah Lee ..i need to know how many Baht i will get for my Zambian Kwacha's and a Giant Glass Jar full of Ugandan Shillings i picked up over the years.

B.M.It's a good job they are'nt Zimbabwean Dollars you have ?? Yesterday it was 25 Million to 1 US$,=32 Baht to 25 Million,Now thats what you call a good ex.rate ??Anybody got 2 Baht to lend me,I want to be a MILLIONAIRE,But DONT want to go and visit Mr.Mugabe,Thanks..

Post by **aznyron** » March 7, 2008, 11:47 am

747 once we step off the plane in BKK they all think we are millionairs and they want a piece of it if not all of it