eBay & Instagram: a question about security of posting eBay links on Instagram posts

[pillarboxred]

This morning I had a shock when working on Instagram when I realised that my posts of eBay listings into which I had pasted the eBay URLs took me into my private eBay account.

This didn't happen with URLs of the form https://www.ebay.co.uk/item/#1234567890 which is what you see when not signed in to eBay.

Links to eBay listings from more than 90 days just go to a Page Not Found. message

My other URLs were copied from item views when signed in to eBay.

I am wondering whether this is a real security threat or the links would only work in this way for me when signed in to eBay and Instagram.

I am afraid I have deleted all the worrying posts. Has anyone else noticed this?

[otherego]

Sorry, I really haven't a clue about all this online stuff. Hopefully, somebody a little brighter will happen along.

Not quite sure I've grasped the problem - but are you logged into both eBay and Instagram on the same browser when it arises?

If so, I expect that clicking on any eBay link in your Instagram post would result in that link opening in your signed-into eBay account.

I doubt whether that would be a security risk.

It might be worth logging out of  both, clearing cookies and cache, and trying your Instagram actions again. If you still end up logged into your eBay account, perhaps you might post back in the hope that somebody more clued up comes along with an answer. Remember to clear flash cookies, too.

I seem to vaguely remember that you use Apple equipment - if you post back, perhaps you might mention what equipment/software you use - might lead to more expert suggestions.

This board has gone horribly quiet. I suppose that's a testament to the reliability of current hardware and software, but I've learned an awful lot here over the past few years. A shame more folk don't post with general IT-type matters - I suppose eBay-specific stuff tends to crop up on buyer and seller boards.

(Edited due to the usual typos...)

[cee-dee]

With some apple devices, you can't sign out. You have to close an account altogether but I don't use apple devices, I dislike my iPad intensely and never use it now.

OE, you still have a raft of questions you promised to answer.......

[otherego]

Too many questions, CD, just too many. If I could resolve my personal energy crisis (perhaps I should go back to chocolate, biccies and cigarettes and accept that salad is what food eats) and get back to playing with gadgets, it would be fun to address a couple of them in the course of fresh threads - eg, dealing with Windows 10 on netbooks with tiny capacity hard drives. (Spoiler - wipe and install Linux seems consistently the most successful approach.)

Re your comment about Apple - Android seems just as bad. I gather that once you log into Google Play store and add apps from it, the only way to log out is a factory reset. Just -no. Really limits what I can put on my cheapo smart telephone, though.

Wonder whether PBR managed to resolve the difficulties outlined in the opening post.

[cee-dee]

Come on OE, more questions, tell folks just WHY they should consider Linux. How do they get it if a new computer has no OS?

Anyway, why Linux? Why not go mad and try something like Menuet  or how about Morph? Go back in time again with React or even FreeDOS?

What can Linux do as well as Windows? Everything?

Is Linux (etc) just for people who just like messing about with old gear? Isn't it time some of those ancient computers went to meet their maker?

[camcoll_0991]

---

@cee-dee wrote:

Come on OE, more questions, tell folks just WHY they should consider Linux. How do they get it if a new computer has no OS?

Anyway, why Linux? Why not go mad and try something like Menuet  or how about Morph? Go back in time again with React or even FreeDOS?

What can Linux do as well as Windows? Everything?

Is Linux (etc) just for people who just like messing about with old gear? Isn't it time some of those ancient computers went to meet their maker?

---

Sorry to butt in, but......

Why people should consider Linux is simple. Security and privacy, freedom from the "evil empires" of tech giants Apple and MS both of whom not only dictate what and when you have to update but even worse, permanently invade and spy on your privacy - how and when you use your device, what you do and what software you run, how and when you connect and to what sites (this can be avoided by only using TOR Browser and where unavoidable Firefox), and more. Linux frees you from all that because Linux distros are created and maintained by a global community of (mainly) volunteers and are funded by donations and sponsorship. And Linux and more apps than you could shake a stick at are free in every sense, even financial cost.

How to get Linux if a new computer has no OS has a plethora of solutions. In the first place of course, there are lots of computers available  with one or another Linux distro pre-installed, including notebooks and laptops. Failing that, use their old computer to download a distro to a DVD or memory stick, or in the absence of an old computer use a friend's or a public library or cybercafé. Installation is simple enough for even the least computer savvy people.

Sure, why not go the whole hog and go back to a ZX80?

And indeed Linux can do (just about) everything as well as Windows or Mac. (A few exceptions are prehaps serious CAD/CAM, 3D printing, some professional 2D and 3D GFX, and pro MIDI.)

Finally, Linux is most decidedly not just for people who like messing with old gear. Many, perhaps most Gnu/Linux distros don't even support very old gear such as 586 anymore - mostly, AMD64 is pretty much compulsory.

[otherego]

Wot he sed ^^^^^^

Menuet? (Or Kolibri) - that was fun. A whole operating system on a floppy. Probably not very practical now.

A lot of people are trapped with Windows or IOS. My brother, for instance, is what I believe is called a "power user" with MS Office. He uses it a lot at work, especially the word processor and spreadsheet parts. LibreOffice isn't 100% compatible, so he's stuck with MS.

Other than that - "What can Linux do as well as Windows?" In my own experience - it does everything I need noticeably better than Windows. But I've so far managed to avoid the dreaded "vendor lock-in."

I've heaps of old 32-bit netbooks and things, and haven't the heart to chuck them. Fortunately, there are still distros available (and supported) that work on low powered 32-bit machines.

People keep buying Eee PCs and Acer Aspire One ZG5s on eBay. At least there is still secure, current software available that will keep these machines going a little longer. Realistically, RAM needs to be boosted to at least 1GB if a modern browser is to be used successfully - possible on most of these little gadgets, although not always (Eee PC 2G, anyone?), and not always easily (ZG5).

As for more powerful computers - as camcoll pointed out, most distros these days are 64-bit - driver support is pretty good on old and new machines, too. In fairness - From Windows 7 onwards, Microsoft is probably just as good, driver-wise.

Apologies to PBR for the thread drift - but I think these discussions remain useful and valid.

[cee-dee]

Well OE................... I've mulled over what's been said for a few days before I decided whether to reply.

First, instead of, as you said you "drifted this thread", you could have replied either on the distro thread or on the thread where I asked you if you were still with us????

That said and getting back to the core of the question(s), were you a salesman for Linux, I don't think you'd do very well with sales? I don't see anything to "encourage" a Windows user with a current up to speed computer to switch to Linux.

You've mentioned security and "spying" (= privacy) many times but there is so much happening with so many people going to so many different sites that it would be absolutely impossible for Google (or anyone else) to keep track of what you're doing, that is, unless you're targeted for doing something you shouldn't be doing? 

What are you up to that you're so afraid of "being found out" for doing?  What do you actually do with those old machines (apart from getting Linux to work on them) ?

An in-depth comparison between using Linux and Windows would be helpful as would an in-depth explanation of (literally) what it and the distros is all about. You say it does everything you need (noticeably better than Windows?), but can/will it do everything everyone else needs?

Can it cope with everyday roaming around (searching and researching on) the net?

You mentioned Office and its WP = Word. Well I use Word and I have (really) thousands of pages in Word. I think I mentioned a long time back that I got "told off" for sending in work that wasn't in Word because I was making them extra work as they had to "translate" it to Word for printing (in a magazine).

I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Windows user but I guess you could say I use Windows "because I don't know any better"????