Web Tracking
1. Overview
When you visit a website, you’re often not just loading content — you’re also being watched. Companies deploy scripts and trackers to log your behavior, fingerprint your browser, and build detailed profiles that can follow you across the web. These techniques are used for everything from advertising and analytics to more questionable purposes.
In this activity, you’ll use real tools to inspect how much tracking happens on common websites — and think critically about what kinds of data are being collected, who benefits, and what users can do about it.
2. Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
- Identify common web tracking techniques, including cookies and browser fingerprinting
- Evaluate what types of personal data can be collected through these techniques
- Use tools to inspect real-world tracking on websites
- Propose meaningful steps users or developers can take to mitigate tracking
3. Activity
Install or open the following tools in your browser:
- Privacy Badger (by EFF)
- uBlock Origin (or another ad/tracker blocker)
- DevTools → Network and Application tabs (in Chrome, Firefox, or Brave)
- Optional: AmIUnique.org or Cover Your Tracks (https://coveryourtracks.eff.org)
These tools will help you visualize trackers, cookies, and fingerprinting vectors.
Step 2: Inspect the Tracking (20–25 minutes)
Pick 2–3 major websites (suggestions below) and investigate:
- How many third-party domains are loaded?
- Are trackers being blocked? If so, which ones?
- What cookies are set? Who sets them?
- Is there any indication of fingerprinting or behavioral profiling?
Website Suggestions:
- A news site (e.g., cnn.com, nytimes.com)
- A shopping site (e.g., amazon.com, target.com)
- A university or nonprofit site (e.g., uchicago.edu, eff.org)
- A social media platform (e.g., instagram.com, linkedin.com)
Take notes on:
- What surprised you?
- Which sites were more aggressive with tracking?
- Could you identify who the trackers belong to?
Step 3: Personal Privacy Audit (Optional Extension)
If time permits, go into your own browser settings and:
- Check how many cookies or saved data entries you have
- Look at your browser’s privacy settings
- Explore whether you’re sending a unique fingerprint to websites
4. Discussion
Let’s come back together and talk through what you saw.
- Which types of data are being collected?
- What are the differences between cookies, scripts, and fingerprinting?
- Who has the power to stop or limit tracking — users, developers, or regulators?
- What would meaningful consent actually look like on the modern web?
We’ll end by discussing how much tracking is truly optional — and whether technical literacy is enough to defend privacy.