Web trackers: What they are and how to protect from them
Learn to manage your digital traces and escape web tracking
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It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that your online activities are tracked every time you surf the net. Behind every search you do, every website you visit, every purchase you make, there is some - often invisible - data-hungry software ready to collect all your digital traces.
That’s why the use of security tools likeVPNservices is getting more and more widespread among casual internet users. And, hackers are not the only ones you should be aware of.We are living in a digital economy wheredata is more valuable than ever.
Websites' owners, ISP providers, data broker companies, advertising agencies, big tech firms and even authorities employ web trackers to spy on everything you do online. Their purpose is to draw an accurate profile of you as a user. Sometimes they do so to make your digital experience more customized and smarter, but making money is mostly the goal. However, in some instances, web tracking has a more sinister intent.
Internet tracking is on a worrying rise, and no one is exempt from it. TakeGoogle, for example: easily the most popular search engine around, it’s thought to have its own trackers onalmost 80% of the web traffic. And then, there are malicious actors that can breach these databases with harmful consequences.
But, how do websites and third-party organizations track you down? What do they do with your data? How dangerous is web tracking, really? Read on to discover everything you need to know about web trackers and how to protect from them.
What is web tracking?
Web or internet tracking is thecollection and sharing of information about an internet user’s activities.Web trackersare inserted into the code of the website you visit with the scope to observe your activity, and then follow you around the internet.
These technologies can be owned by websites' hosts, marketing companies, advertising agencies and even governments. They sometimes keep this data for themselves, or they may sell them to third parties in exchange of other services.
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As the scope of web tracking differs, so too do the type of data collected. As a general rule though, they are likely to collect every possible piece information they can. Some examples are email addresses, login credentials, payment details, search preferences, how long users stay on websites, accurate location, the type of device used, applications downloaded, and so on.
There are five main types of web trackers:
All these tracking methods can be used distinctly according the situation. First of all, there is a notable difference between first-party and third-party trackers.
First-party trackersare implemented directly by the website you visit. Not all of those are a bad thing either. Some are used to remember your log-in credentials or simply manage your sessions for a smoother experience. They usually deactivate once you log out from the website. However, malicious actors may still exploit them to access your sensitive information.
Third-party trackerscan be much more intrusive. As the name suggests, other parties may use them to track down your online activities. These are mainly used by advertising agencies to tailor the ads you see in every sites you access. Have you ever noticed that after searching for a new pair of shoes or your next holiday destination, you keep seeing ads related to your searches everywhere? That means that third-party trackers are noting down your preferences.
Another substantial distinction is betweensessionandpersistent trackers. The first die out once you leave the website. The latter keep following your activities from site to site, sometimes tracking you down even years after being enabled on yourbrowser.
What is web tracking used for?
As mentioned before, web trackers fulfil different purposes. Below, we’ve run down web trackers' most common uses.
What are the dangers of web tracking?
If monetizing your data and better-customized online platforms are the primary objectives, web tracking can be used in a more invasive and worrying way. The most scary part is that all this happenin a way that isnot visible to most people.
Tracker profilingmeans that your data - like IP address, personal information and browsing habits - is used by tech giants and governments to build your unique digital profile. This valuable and sensitive information can be then used in many - sometimes unethical - ways.
TheCambridge Analytica scandal, for example, shows how this data can be employed fortargeting and manipulating users for political purposes. In that instance, the British consulting firm harvested the data of up to 87 million Facebook profiles to back up the 2016 Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as well as the Brexit referendum.
Researches also found that manygovernment and public health sites use invisible trackersto profile users. Almost 90% of EU government sites appear to use these tools. Plus,almost all popular health apps seem to harvest users' dataas a common practice.
While aninvestigation carried out by NGO newsroom The Markupuncovered that advertising agencies were tracking users down on more than 100 websites offering services for undocumented immigrants, domestic and sexual abuse survivors, sex workers and LGBTQ people.
Is web tracking legal?
Even though tricky at times, web tracking is absolutelylegal as long as companies make sure to meet all the relevant data privacy requirements. Many countries have now specific data-protection laws to define which data can be collected, the reasons for doing so, as well as how long these information can be stored.
Amended in 2018, the EU’sGeneral Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)requires website operators to have a visitor’s consent before tracking them through cookies. In 2021, the UK retains the same data-protection law despite no longer being a member of the European Union. While, in the US, theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)rules similar requirements.
The fact that many website users can customize their preferences aroundtracking cookiesis a positive step. Although, in practice most of the people simply click on ‘allow everything’ without even thinking through. The same applies to the ‘terms and conditions’ consent. Research has found that over90% of users never reads service policiesbefore accepting them.
On top of that, even though internet users can take some agency back when choosing which cookies to accept, there are some web trackers that are invisible to most of people.
All this shows how the route to more fair and regulated web-tracking practices still needs to be improved.
Follow these hacks to protect your privacy from web trackers:
Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life—wherever cybersecurity, markets and politics tangle up.She mainly writes news, interviews and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, cybercrime, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Got a story, tip-off or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com
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