I am using it, I don't know much about it yet, but I like it. It shows that it has block 10 things on this site.

This is what it found on this site. Sorry it is so large I made it smaller than that.

One thing to note about Ghostery is what they do with users' information on what sites they block, etc. It's not so much a warning to stop using the addon, but an opportunity to understand what the Ghostery service does.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ghostery: A Web tracking blocker that actually helps the ad industry

I'm using it, making sure to opt out of GhostRank.
Unfortunately there is a lot of conflicting info out there and making a definitive conclusion isn't easy, at least when all is taken into consideration. It's on the 'dismissed' list of add-ons (after it was sold) for Palemoon, but I'm still using it for the moment. I'm also using the mvps hosts file which cuts out a lot of ad servers up front.

You're spittin' upwind if you think using Ghostery accomplishes anything significant for you.

I'm not sure what "privacy" people may think they need. The only approach I know that works with certainty is to use a VPN connection. Short of doing that, hmmmm........

I don't feel my privacy is invaded if someone learns that I anonymously went from a newspaper site to Google, then to Amazon. Anyone who wants to know that is welcome to it. They don't know who I am, and if they discern that, bully for them.

snidley why are you so critical about what the rest of us do? You infer that people are paranoid or obsessed with things like privacy which is not true in most cases. If it is true, it would be because forums like this make them think the sky is falling. And I mean no offense to the very nice, patient people here who help. This site is a place where people come when they have a problem, so lots of problems here. No one hears about the computers that run smoothly and aren't hit by the "infections". I for one haven't had an infection in years thanks to the advice of the people here.

My problem is really a bit funny, I have this attitude regarding "my" computer....."how dare you put stuff on MY PC that I didn't ask for"?

I tend to agree with snidely on an issue such as this one, especially after reading the link provided by not2bright.

No two people are the same regarding computer use and caution. I have a grandson who used to roam the net with careless abandon declaring he would simply wipe his hard drive and start over as and when needed, he has mended his ways of late. On the other hand a friend has had a computer almost 3 years now and is still terrified of even poking the "On" button. The rest of us fall somewhere in between those 2 extremes, hopefully somewhere near the middle.

I also fully understand EmmaR's I have this attitude regarding "my" computer....."how dare you put stuff on MY PC that I didn't ask for"? as I feel exactly the same way when these folks feel they can infringe on my space.

Sorry Emma, I'll try to tone down the colloquial comments.

This add on blocks things like usage patterning and tracking cookies from seemingly legit companies, but then accumulates the info to send to advertising and industry groups. What's the difference, what's accomplished?

Your credit card company does profiling from your spending habits, as does your supermarket and others with "Club Cards". As does Amazon and other selling sites. You can't stop usage profiling, unless you stay off the internet and buy things anonymously and for cash. Consumer "research" will happen whether you like it or not. You can consider it a privacy invasion I guess, but it's one to learn to live with.

Owbist sums it up nicely. Don't worry, be happy.

snidley, Thank you for taking what I said kindly. Normally I don't reply like that and only have stress for the reason. It made me less cautious about what I say. What kind of stuff do they send besides tracking your surfing records. I don't really care about that. Their effort is wasted on me.

Owbist, my next door neighbor won't even install a retail game on her computer because of her fear. I will not live in a prison like that. LOL

Emma,

The who/what/how the info is used besides ad placement profiling, I forget. I used to have close contact with one of the companies so involved, but I don't any longer. It's advertising and market/sales/user stat stuff, in any event. A very trivial example, is if you do a Google search for "Knitting needles", or anything else for that matter, look at the ads that appear on the right of the frame. That interest may follow you to a future site ad placement, just as your location (discernible from the IP address reported when you open a web location) is also considered.

Somewhat ironically, your neighbor may have generically the right attitude but for the wrong reason. I think everyone should be very judicious about what they download or install - the default should be "Don't". But out of knowledge, not of fear.

There's an overused term called FUD - fear, uncertainty, doubt, it's frequently used (whether companies selling products or people giving tech support) to make you think you need something you could probably do without.

Thanks again, the sales advertising doesn't bother me. I rarely see an ad and never in THS. As I said before I have at least 22 games on my PC that I bought retail, never had a problem. With the last one I had a pup.soft download that Super Anti Spyware didn't like. I deleted it. SAS is very good at finding game trash.