Oh crap ETSY, what have you DONE!

If you have ever used ETSY at all, you need to be awarethat they've been using the Kissmetrics software to spy on you: http://www.wired.com/epicenter​/2011/07/undeletable-cookie/


This thread on ETSY has vital though insufficient information: re: shielding yourself somewhat from their use of Kissmetrics--- it has bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifeen closed by admin who added WRONG information, private browsing will not keep this software from tracking your, or remove the malware it planted on your computer. http://www.etsy.com/teams/7718​/site-help/discuss/8802429/pag​e/1

UPDATE: except for ONE thread on ONE team (where admin never bothers to go) all the threads about the Kissmetrics concerns have been DELETED from the forums.

this information is VITAL for ETSY, Hulu, Spotify (and other sites) users to know.
please help disseminate it: http://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/8816812/page/1/?post_id=96457559

What we really need is a Kissmetrics specific removal tool.... Please help disseminate this information, and help find a removal tool for the Kissmetric malware so we can share the information.

Keep in mind, this is how we are answered after about a YEAR of concerns about mysterious software apparently being used by ETSY, and concerns about ETSY's handling of our personal security & data (privacy) during their push for more and more data on us as individuals. These are not exactly spechttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifific removal tools for the kissmetric "zombie cookies" but it's a start until someone like McAffe, Malwarebytes, or Symantec (Norton) come up with a specific tool for all of us to use.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
this may remove the kissmetric tag from your LSO's I just installed and ran it now...
(but I had to remove ALL my LSOs and don't know enough yet to know if the "self replicating" nature of the kissmetrics will keep it hidden on my machine.

better privacy
http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/

Adblock
http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/searchttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifh/?q=ad+block&cat=all&x=17&y=10

Ghostery (will tell you what trackers are used on a site, and will give you links to see what that cookie or tracker actually DOES and who it is from)

http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/seahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrch/?q=ghostery&cat=all&x=25&y=18

CCleaner

http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER

I have not yet found anything that is specifically a Kissmetric removal tool.
Please pass this information along.

CCleaner's download page has options for a variety of OS,
the others can often be found that serve browsers besides firefox.
However, Internet Explorer, since it's the software that comes with the computer, is usually the target of hacks/worms/malware/viruses... just having a less common browser (one that isn't "newbie default") will help.

after downloading, you will need to reboot your browser (and for the CCleaner it may require to reboot your system I don't remember if I needed to or not)

when your brower is reopened, you'll go under the drop down tool menu and set up your preferences for each of the new bits of protective ware.

It may take an hour or so, I went with "delete all LSOs" and as time goes by I'll keep an eye on the BetterPrivacy listing and decide when there's a short list, what to block and what to allow.

Please, everyone, be as safe as you can out there.

thank you.