A study released Tuesday shows that 45 percent of the top 185 U.S. Web sites transmit identifying details about their visitors to at least four outside Web sites.
The data transmitted was primarily a “username” — which is the name a person uses to log into a Web site — or a user ID assigned by the Web site to a user. It was usually transmitted through referrers — which is information about the Web page transmitted automatically.
Along with original content and posts from across the Dow Jones network, this section of AllThingsD includes Must-Reads From Other Web Sites — pieces we’ve read, discussions we’ve followed, stuff we like. Six posts from external sites are included here each weekday, but we only run the headlines. We link to the original sites for the rest. These posts are explicitly labeled, so it’s clear that the content comes from other Web sites, and for clarity’s sake, all outside posts run against a pink background.
We also solicit original full-length posts and accept some unsolicited submissions.
Voices is edited by Beth Callaghan.
