CueCat Bar Code Reader Privacy Advisory. The CueCat is a pen-like barcode scanner peripheral for your computer that is being given out for free through Radio Shack, Wired, Forbes magazine, etc. Promoted as an easy way to visit websites by scanning barcodes included in catalogues, magazine articles and advertisements, each pen has a unique digital ID and the accompanying software appears to transmit a history of your surfing behavior back to the parent company, Digital:Convergence in Dallas. Even if, as the company insists, no tracking of individual data is done, The Privacy Foundation is concerned at the ease with which this might eventually occur. If you have concerns about being tracked in this manner, you should probably pass on the free CueCat and (gasp!) type in your URLs when you surf.