{"id":62989,"date":"2019-04-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/2019\/04\/15\/take-control-against-online-tracking\/"},"modified":"2019-04-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T00:00:00","slug":"take-control-against-online-tracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/firefox\/take-control-against-online-tracking\/","title":{"rendered":"How you can take control against online tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picture this. You arrive at a website you\u2019ve never been to before and the site is full of ads for things you\u2019ve already looked at online. It\u2019s not a difficult thing to imagine because it happens every day. It can feel creepy, especially if you don\u2019t understand why you\u2019re seeing those ads. It can be particularly uncomfortable when you start seeing ads that try to shape your political opinions. With elections coming up in the EU, Canada and the US, it\u2019s important to understand how online tracking can influence you.<\/p>\n

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What is tracking?<\/b><\/h2>\n

When you browse from site to site, you\u2019re often followed by trackers that collect data on where you\u2019ve been and what you\u2019ve done using scripts, widgets or even tiny, invisible images called tracking pixels, which are embedded on the sites you visit.<\/p>\n

What exactly happens during tracking?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Tracking information is stored by the websites in small files called cookies. They can be stored on your computer, smartphone, or tablet browsers. When you return to a page that has set a cookie, it recognizes you by that information. For example, cookies help a website remember your username and password or what you have left in a shopping cart. It can save you a few steps and help you get things done faster.<\/p>\n

Cookies can also collect a lot of detailed information about you. For example, cookies are capable of gathering information about your interests, where you live, your religion, your surfing behavior or the people you interact with online. Based on this information, pages can then show you content that is more relevant to you. This is usually done in the form of advertising. Many blogs and news articles are offered for free because website operators show advertisements. When you see the ads on these sites, it creates revenue for the people or organizations behind these sites.<\/p>\n

Where do these cookies come from and what\u2019s their purpose?<\/b><\/h2>\n

There are two primary types of cookies: first party and third party. First party cookies are placed by a website operator, and they can help you have a better experience on a site. Third party cookies, on the other hand, do not originate from the website operator, but from separate entities you’ve probably never heard of and didn’t explicitly agree to share your information with. Unbeknownst to you, these third parties are able to place cookies on sites across the web, thereby collecting a multitude of data about each of us.<\/p>\n

Algorithms can use that information to develop a very defined picture of you. It would be like someone following you in real life, carefully documenting everything you do and then using all that information to show you ads.<\/p>\n

This data is very valuable, which is why an entire industry has grown around buying and selling it. Strangely though, even though the data is about you, you don\u2019t have any control over who sees it, how they use it or who is profiting from it.<\/p>\n