I am a newbie. Can someone please explain what the number means that is attached to the green (circle) icon in the top right of my browser.
Am I being tracked or not?
I have avast! Free Antivirus with the latest update.
Thanks,
Norman
do you have a screenshot…
Agreed. A screenshot would be very helpful. And it would help to know which browser you use.
avast! Online Security is a web browser protection plugin for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer that combines WebRep (reputation rating system for visited websites), Site Correct (automatic correction of mistyped web URLs), Antiphishing (protection from phishing scams) and "Do not Track" features (prevention of third-party sites tracking your web browsing activity) to let you browse the web safely and securely.
[b][i]What is the “Do not Track” feature in the avast! Online Security browser protection plugin and how does it work?
[/i][/b]
http://www.avast.com/en-us/faq.php?article=AVKB89#idt_14
It helps prevent analytics, social media, and other third-party sites tracking your web browsing activity, a number is displayed under the plugin icon in the top right corner of your web browser. When you click on it, the user sees a list of all the analytics tools and tracking software on that site. The user can then choose which to allow or deny.
I too am trying to make sense of this new tracking device. Fact is I do not want it. It is really messing things up. The setting button does not respond. How do I turn it off. My Pandora has quit working right since this thing was installed.
Thanks
Firecat
You can disable it in Firefox Extensions. I still have it enabled though. It hasn’t messed anything up for me.
Any avast module you dont want can be removed from ad/remove programs > uninstall/change > change…untic what you dont want and reboot
You can go into the settings by clicking on the green icon at the top of your browser and untick tracking or other features, or you can disable the browser module by right clicking your browsers toolbar and untick, or you can remove it altogether via the change feature option that is given when you click to uninstall avast.
Hi Nolly,
How can you mistake an avast! anti tracker tool for a tracking device is beyond me. This very part of the avast solution disables third party tracking in your firefox browser, so it does not track itself but blocks others from tracking you. If users read the word" tracking" somewhere without really understanding the workings of the tool, they immediately get paranoid and into arms. It always is a bad thing to get paranoid without understanding why. This part of avast av is just disabling and blocking third party tracking. In your case it is just something you should want and be glad to have. Do you want to be tracked?. :o When the answer is no, then do not disable it. The number is just the amount of tracking being blocked!
polonus
Thanks so much -midnight. You were exactly right. Now the Pandora works again…YEA! You’re awesome :-*
If Pandora is blocked, it isn’t by avast! as the screenshot clearly shows:
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/screenshots/u/Lh/1393249524759-48953.png
The music comes in loud and clear. 
Hi bob3160,
A good thing here is that our forum user, -midnight, never disabled it.
The more protection against tracking the better, and she is right.
So she was the only one taking the right decision i.m.h.o. ;D
So 10 points go out to -midnight 
polonus
I have everything blocked.
Thanks for your replies. With some intuition and some research I have managed to answer my own question.
Offtopic but you have every security extension known to man in Firefox it seems to me. Bitdefender, Avast, Mcafee are just a few I recognized.
I have Bitdefender"s Traffic Light, McAfee secure search bar, wot, ghostery, Dr. Web, Webutation amd a couple more security extensions. How would you know what security extensions I have? ???
He’s observant and simply looked at the screenshot you posted. It isn’t magic or anything else.
Hi -midnight,
Funny and striking, I share the following browser extensions with you, -midnight: BitDefender TrafficLight, ghostery, WOT and webutation.
I would change McAfee (probably came installed with the comp, my wife has it too) for DrWeb’s extension.
BitDefender is really detecting an awful lot of baddies, but you have to discriminate and sieve out the detected uri’s from those are no longer actual.
Ghostery tracking is not delivering all trackers, that is why I added Do Not Track Me.
Do this test to check if they know where you came from - that page before this one- : http://www.zeigen.com/refer/
For Blue E test here: http://ie.microsoft.com/Testdrive/Browser/DoNotTrack/Default.html
Then you can adjust your browser of choice,
polonus
I have Adblock Plus, Bitdefender Quick Scan, Do Not Track Me Online Privacy Protection, Dr. Web Anti-Virus Checker, Facebook Phishing Protector, Ghostery, Google Disconnect, McAfee Site Advisor, No Google Analytics, Track Me Not, Webutation and Wot. Should I disable some of these extensions? ???
Seems a good mix. If they do not slow down the browser. Why uninstall?
Oh. one there I do not like.
Bitdefender Quick Scan is an adware lurer, that is trying to lure users to go and install Bitdefender’s av.
Take that off and install Bitdefender TrafficLight extension instead.
That is the one you should have in the browser.
DrWeb’s is fine because it detects on avast!'s blind spots.
The rest are legit tracking blockers a good combination actually.
Bitdefender TrafficLight is an extension like Dr. Webs and WOT and is a pre-url checker,
so it delivers pre-check results for the url search results that your search engine query serves up on your search result page,
and then it blocks you from going to bad sites just like Google Safebrowsing does.
pol