Seen At 11: Experts Say Keep Up With Technology To Keep Your Holiday Gifts A Secret
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Finding the perfect holiday gift is a challenging task unto itself, but keeping the secret from the recipient might be even harder these days with technology.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, there are some ways to make sure you aren't spoiling the surprise.
Bob and Jean Kane of the Upper West Side said they prefer to shop online during the holiday season. They use the same computer, and they know what the other is buying.
"We're too old for surprises," Jean Kane said. "It's OK if he finds out."
And there is a good chance Bob will find out, according to tech expert Lance Ulanoff of Mashable.
"Every single thing you do online is tracked," Ulanoff said. "There are ad networks and they cut across websites."
Look at what happened when CBS2 went online shopping. Just minutes after Sanchez searched for boots on Amazon.com, a relevant ad popped up as an ad on her Facebook page.
Experts said you should remember any time you search for the same item on the same website on your phone, because it can pop up on your desktop as well.
"And if anyone else is on that computer or is sharing it, they will see the exact same thing and know exactly what you're planning," Ulanoff said.
To keep your presents under wraps, you are advised to:
• Log onto your own account and browser when you go shopping and log off when you're done;
• Set your browser settings to incognito or private mode to block the record of sites you have visited;
• Turn on the "do not track" setting.
• Block cookies, which are text files that track your Internet preferences.
"if you do all those things before you shop, it's going to be really hard for anyone to kind of get on to the same system and see what you've been doing," Ulanoff said.
And people will do so.
"People do snoop absolutely," said Marcus Watson of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. "My sister would look."
But clear those Internet cookies, and maybe you can keep those gifts a secret.
