National Pulse: The vast majority of governmental and COVID-19 tracking websites employ third-party trackers on users without consent, according to a new study.
The revelation comes from a recent paper – “Measuring Web Cookies in Governmental Websites” – published by a cohort of European researchers funded by groups including the European Research Council (ERC), the European Union, and the Spanish government.
“A potential risk from e-governance is that since it represents a unique point of interaction for mandatory and indispensable services for all citizens, it can, unintentionally or not, become a single point of monitoring and tracking for the entire population of a country. A readily available way to achieve that is with the use of Web cookies,” cautions the paper.
The study analyzed three types of websites: official governmental websites of “G20” countries around the world; websites of international organizations such as the United Nations and popular websites used for COVID-19 tracking and information. It measured these sites’ use of “cookies” – personal data related to your browsing history that websites can retrieve at a later time.
“Web cookies have been exploited to collect information about users’ online activities and interests,” notes the paper.
“Our results show that, unfortunately, tracking is a serious concern, as in some countries up to 90% of these websites create cookies of third-party trackers without any consent from users,” explains a summary of the findings. read more
ALL websites track users.
Would using a VPN allow you to not be tracked? Serious question as I have no idea how secure a VPN makes you.
Suspend all notions of privacy. You have NONE. Big Brother has been here a very long time.
I worry that VPNs may government sting operations
tctsunami July 16, 2022 at 10:09 am
Would using a VPN allow you to not be tracked? Serious question as I have no idea how secure a VPN makes you
VPN = Virtual Private Network
NOTHING is truly secure on the interwebs. That said VPN’s provide the security analogous to a locked gate on a football stadium full of spectators, you can’t readily be identified and your voice can’t be picked out of the cheering crowds. On the other hand, if “someone” really wanted and has the resources, to find you in the crowd and listen to you cheer, they could/can without your knowledge.
And Covid testing wasn’t about DNA sampling.
I don’t know if a VPN protects anything. Your phone, Alexia, Siri, Google, are all listening to your conversations. If the algorithm can target advertising, it already knows if you are(or will) be a threat. If you are using Win 10, there at least 40 tracking/telemetry bugs.
Americas representatives at the French Ambassadors residence this week
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=426209549550774&set=a.310673751104355
You don’t say?
Nick Cookie Cage
Only 99%?
Who’s the slacker?
The person whom locked the gate also assigned the seating . . .