Webpages automatically extracting default mail address

My Norton Internet Security 2004 'protect personal information' facility is alerting to me to certain websites trying to automatically retrieve and send back to the server my email address. A very clever trick! How's it done?

"ITMA" wrote in news:40fc25d8$1 snipped-for-privacy@mk-nntp-1.news.uk.worldonline.com:

It's being done through the browser using *cookies*. Cookies are files kept on your machine and server side scripting such as ASP or JAVA will gather information about you and store them in *cookies* on your machine and retrieve this information when you visit a site. Also, server side scripting can also keep cookies on the server about you and will know when you access a sight by interrogating the browser to obtain information to access the cookies that have been kept on the Web server about you.

There is no magic going on and it's just Web programming that's all nothing special. ;-)

Duane :)

at a guess, you've signed up to these sites, and used your email address as a logon name. You've clicked "remember me" or something similar when logging on. A cookie was stored on your computer, everytime the website reads this info, norton alerts you.

Or are these totally random sites you've never been to before?

Nigel Wade wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ion.le.ac.uk:

The last time I saw it, which I am not paying to much attention too I know ASP better, Javascript can do the same a ASPscript in making code execute on the client or server side.

Duane :)

Are you sure you meant Java, and not Javascript?. There is a very huge difference, for a start Java isn't scripting. In a web browser Java can only run as an applet, and an applet is very restricted in what it can do (at least a true Java applet rather than a MSVM applet). An applet cannot access anything outside the JVM except the server it was downloaded from, and is restricted to what it can access within the JVM. Javascript, on the other hand, can do all sorts of nasty things to your environment, and retrieve a fair amount of information you might like to be kept private.