Yes, They’re Watching You…..

Hello, I’m Steve and I’m a Coffee Addict! Not a surprise to those who know me – but it lead to a surprise for me this week.

I recently ordered a new espresso machine from the good folks at Whole Latte Love (WLL). I went back to the site to check on the shipment, and was amazed by the photo of myself grinning back at me.

Not the photo itself – it’s the one I use for LinkedIn and the blog,and it’s not too scary(!). But the fact that I hadn’t uploaded it to my WLL account..which means it has been plucked from somewhere else.

I should know this. Everything on the web is interconnected. You’re being tracked wherever you go. I’m careful…I log out of gmail and hotmail and google+ and all the others…at least I do “most of the time”. But somewhere along the way, my virtual breadcrumbs had allowed WLL to work out that I was that Steve Cummins.

So I tried to backtrack. They have my “hotmail” email address; but there’s no photo associated with that account. I didn’t add my twitter handle to my WLL account, which could have lead them back to me, nor my website or blog address. Their privacy policy doesn’t give any clues, other than the usual vague “cookie” comment. So I can only assume they tracked my footsteps across the ether.

Now, I don’t have a beef with Whole Latte Love. This isn’t about them – I’m sure they’re good people, and they love coffee. I actually think they do a great job in building a community – constantly changing content, adding features and adapting to trends. They have great videos, a clear knowledge of the subject, and I’ve always been happy with their products or services.

No, this is just a reminder to be wary of where you login, when you logout, and who has your data. I’m supposed to know about this stuff, and I got caught out.