Privacy-focused web browser DuckDuckGo has revealed a new tool aimed at unveiling which companies and domains track users online.
Named Tracker Radar, the tool consists of over 5,326 domains used by 1,727 companies, with the full data set used to create it available now on GitHub.
DuckDuckGo hopes that the release will help researchers get a better understanding of online tracking as a whole, but also allow developers to create tools to stop users from being tracked.
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Data privacy
Most common web crawlers are deployed to track users’ locations, search history and browsing history, with this data typically sold to advertising or ecommerce firms.
However, with awareness about data privacy growing in recent times, users are looking for ways to avoid being tracked online.
The developers behind the Vivaldi browser have already started using this data to make browsing a bit more private affair for their users, and DuckDuckGo hopes others will follow.
Companies like Google and Facebook, who have advertisement as their primary source of revenue, also feel that privacy is a priority now. Google Chrome already lets users block cross-site tracking and also hopes to be able to block third-party trackers soon.
Other prominent browsers like Firefox and Edge are also working out ways to improve data protection and block cookies that impact user data privacy.
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Via: CNET
