Do you know to whom you're sending e-mail?

That may seem a silly question, but there's more to it than you might imagine. You may be sending e-mail to owners of Web sites without even knowing it. Webmasters who want to know your e-mail address, which ISP you use, where you dial in from or which Web browser you use, needn't work hard to find out.

Programs are available to enable a Web site to gather all the above data and more, including how many Web sites you've visited previously, which one you last visited, how many and which browser plug-ins you have installed, your screen width, height and resolution. Skeptics should check Java Script Source, which has the source code to do all that, including Visitor Monitor, which automatically sends an e-mail to a site from every visitor.

There's nothing inherently evil about such operations, but it does give one pause to think about privacy on the Internet. As with "cookies," there may be legitimate reasons (in the minds of the Webmasters who employ them) for these intrusive tools. For those who missed my previous tirades, cookies are files placed on your hard drive by many Web sites, often to save you the trouble of entering your password each time you visit. In some cases cookies are relayed to marketing outfits like www.doubleclick.com, or may be used to track your interests. It is my practice to disable cookies in my browser's Preferences, or to delete the cookies.txt file after visiting a site like the New York Times, which won't permit access unless you accept a cookie.

For just a taste of the ease with which information about you may be gathered on the Web, go to the Center for Democracy and Technology privacy demonstration page (note Sep. 7, 1998: the demo is apparently being updated, and is unavailable now) and see what their very simple trick shows about you. While I consider collecting information without the user's knowledge unethical, most examples are trivial annoyances at worst, and they may not disturb you at all. But the potential for abuse exists.

I don't like to have my movements tracked, even when the trackers tell me they're doing it.

In researching this column I was following stories on Internet stalking. One of the more interesting was the nightmare experienced by Maryland teacher and writer Jayne Hitchcock. Subjected to a campaign of e-mail harassment, someone went to the trouble of finding her home address and phone number and posting them in a phony advertisement soliciting sadomasochists. (For the full Hitchcock story click here.)

While reading Hitchcock's story I was interrupted by the following message from Ziff-Davis, the site owner: "1. Sorry to interrupt, but is this the first time you've been to ZDNet since Wednesday, April 22?" This was followed by checkboxes, 'Yes' and 'No'." ZD owns most of the computer magazines, as well as the Comdex computer exposition held at McCormick Place last week. It is in turn owned by Softbank, a Japanese corporation with large high tech investments.

The numeral 1 before the question suggests it was but the 1st in a series, based on their tracking my visits to the site.

I didn't answer.

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