Yahoo Privacy Policy and Advertising Change

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It was noticed on March 29, 2002 that Yahoo had changed its privacy policy and was signing members up for direct marketing by email, phone, and snail mail.

Many members complained this was done "behind their back" and wanted information on how to stop it.

Below is what we know so far.

A new message, reported by a fan says these advertisements start June 15, 2002.¹

What to Do:

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1. OPT OUT for each browser you use. Do so by clicking here.

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2. Change the settings at "Edit Marketing Preferences." To do this go to "Yahoo Account Information" and click on "Edit your marketing preferences." On that page change the choices to "no" to avoid junk mail. Note if you use Yahoo mail forwarding or POP services, they may require some direst mail . In this case, limit it by selecting only one "Yes."

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3. While at "" be sure to click on "Edit Email Subscriptions" to stop Yahoo newsletter, report, ... etc. mailings.

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4. Go to preferences at Yahoo Groups. You can do this by clicking on "My Groups" and then going to "Email Preferences" then "Options." From the Options page choose " Do not convert to HTML." This will stop cookies, beacons, and image advertising in your email.

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5. Remove all unnecessary information at Yahoo "Account Info." Some are replacing information with bogus data in hopes that the old data is purged. We can not endorse that.

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6. Sign the Yahoo petition on the Code 7R petition page.

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7. Consider calling, writing email, or writing a letter to Yahoo stating your displeasure.

Yahoo! Inc.
Customer Care - Privacy Policy Issues
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
(408) 349-5070

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8. Consider the purchase of a security program like Norton Personal Firewall or Zone Alarm, and set up the privacy settings, advanced settings for each site ( Yahoo and affiliates ), and cookie settings. AT LEAST get the free version of Zone Alarm until you can afford another.

Change In The Privacy Policy

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You can view the new policy here.

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The page says they collect information on

" your past use of Yahoo! products and services,"
" information about you that is personally identifiable like your name, address, email address, or phone number, and that is not otherwise publicly available",
"when you visit Yahoo! pages or the pages of certain Yahoo! partners, and when you enter promotions or sweepstakes,"
"information .... from business partners or other companies"
"When you register .... your name, email address, birth date, gender, zip code, occupation, industry, and personal interests. .... your address, Social Security number, and information about your assets."
"....information about your transactions with us and with some of our business partners, including information about your use of financial products and services.."
"... records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, Yahoo! cookie information, and the page you request."

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Be sure you read how they may use this information:

- "... provide the information to trusted partners .... These companies may use your personal information to help Yahoo! ..."

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Beacons

Yahoo uses these to

"...count users who have visited that page or to access certain cookies ...,"
"... conduct research on behalf of certain partners on their web sites ...,"
"... report aggregate information" including "demographic and usage information" to partners.

Note, it is "Yahoo!'s practice is to include web beacons in HTML-formatted email messages (messages that include graphics) that Yahoo! itself sends ... "

You must opt out ! Do that at this site here. You must do this for each browser you use ( i.e. Netscape, Explorer, Neoplanet, ... )

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Cookies

"Yahoo! may set and access Yahoo! cookies on your computer."
"Yahoo! lets other companies ... set and access their cookies on your computer."

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To write Yahoo:

Yahoo! Inc.
Customer Care - Privacy Policy Issues
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
(408) 349-5070

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Start Date From The Horse's Mouth :

A Note To Our Users:
.... If you have not yet received an email regarding your marketing preferences, please be assured that changes will not occur before June 15th, 60 days after email notices have been sent to all affected users. For more information, please visit our help pages.

Related Links

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Wired.com : Yahoo's 'Opt-Out' Angers Users