Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What do you mean by 'tracking'?

Most webpages we visit include embedded images and code which come from the domains and servers of third party companies. These companies are able to track us through the use of cookies and other technologies. In particular, they are able to track the content we view on a specific webpage, the links we click on, the scrolling movements of our mouse and how long we linger on a page. In most cases, they are even able to track the search terms we used to reach that page, as well as the various other webpages we accessed before and after that page.

What are cookies?

Cookies - otherwise known as HTTP cookies - are computer files made of text that a website sends to your computer's hard drive while you are viewing a website. Companies link the information they store in cookies to your information so that they can personalise your experience when you visit a website.

Which types of websites is Trackography looking at?

We started off the project by examining online tracking through media websites.

We have now expanded the project and are currently examining online tracking through various other types of websites. Learn more here.

What do you mean by 'media websites'?

By media websites, we mean websites which:

For each country around the world, we are examining which companies track us through the four following types of media websites:

Who is tracking us when we access websites? Who are the 'trackers'?

Embedded images and code are included in most webpages we visit, which belong to the domains and servers of companies. These companies - such as Google and Facebook - are the "third party trackers" which track our online activity through the use of cookies and other technologies.

For more information about the specific companies tracking you when you access specific websites in various countries, please view our map.

Why are these trackers interested in tracking us?

Companies track users' access to websites because they engage in (one or more of) the following:

• Profiling

• Advertising

• Market research

• Web analytics

• Web crawling

Many of these companies argue that they track individuals' access to websites so that they can improve the services that they provide. Companies in the advertising business aim to understand their audience as much as possible so that they can provide targeted advertisements.

Do trackers change across time?

Probably. Our results provide a snapshot and show which companies track us when we access a website in a specific moment in time. That though might change depending on your browser and where you are accessing content from. If you would like to explore which companies track you in other instances, please run our software again. It would be interesting to run the software in your country multiple times and to compare results across time. If the third party trackers change, it is also likely because the new ones are offering more money to a media organisation.

What data is being tracked when we access websites?

Companies in the data industry can track your online behaviour.Third party scripts (such as javascript) monitor your website usage, such as your mouse scrolling down a webpage. When you share the news with a friend, both you and your friend will be associated once he or she clicks on a link, thus mapping your network of contacts. The amount of time spent on a webpage, the movements of your mouse and the section of a text that you copy-pasted include examples of data collected by third party scripts. Such data is collected through web analytics, which is an analysis on how a website is used by its audience.

Moreover, every third party tracker collects your IP address and other identifiable data and stores browser cookies, local shared objects and other tracking technologies on your browser. This permits them to keep track of your online habits and behaviour and to create profiles about you.

Why does it matter if such data is being tracked?

Online tracking is part of a larger industry, where individual and group profiling is at the heart of it.

Companies in the data industry aggregate the data they collect from various online and offline sources and subseqnetly create profiles about groups and individuals. This is concerning because we largely have no control over:

• the profiles created about us

• what happens to our data

As a result, the probability for breach is high, while safeguards are inadequate. Profiling can lead to social discrimination and to social stratification.

Why is information about my country missing from the map?

If information about your country is missing from our map, that's likely because we haven't found someone yet to assist us with the review of the list of media websites and/or to run our software from your country. Please help us add information by connecting us with a media expert and/or someone who runs Linux from your country.

Why is my media organisation missing from the map?

Please contact us at trackmap@tacticaltech.org.

Where can I find my country's list of media websites?

You can find your country's list of media websites through our github repository. If we have already reviewed your country's media list, you can find it in the verified section and if not, you can find it in the unverified section.

How can I review my country's media list?

If you found your country's media list in the unverified section and you're a media expert, a journalist or generally have good knowledge of your country's media, you can review the media list through the following steps:

1. Add missing websites which cover the news, are of public interest and which are regularly accessed by most individuals on a national or regional level in your country

2. Delete websites from which are not regularly updated, do not necessarily cover the news and are not regularly accessed by most individuals on a national or regional level in your country

3. Separate the following in the list:

Why is my country's list of media websites in the unverified section?

If you found your country's list of media websites in the unverified section, that's probably because it has not been reviewed by a media expert yet.

Why doesn't my country have a list of media websites on github?

If you didn't find your country's list of media websites in the verified or unverified sections on github, that's probably because we have not compiled a list for your country yet. Contact us at trackmap@tacticaltech.org, ask us to add a list of media websites for your country or help us create it.

How can my country's list of media websites be transferred to the verified section on github?

Once your country's list of media websites has been reviewed by a media expert, we transfer it from the unverified section to the verified section on github.

Should I add Facebook pages in the lists of media websites?

No, because Facebook is one of the third party trackers often included in media websites that we are interested in detecting. We are interested in media websites which include the domains and servers of third party trackers, but not in webpages hosted by third party trackers, such as Facebook.

Should the media lists be restricted to citizens accessing them in my country or can they also be expanded to media websites accessed by my country's diaspora?

Preferably, we would like to restrict media websites to ones accessed by individuals residing in your country. However, websites accessed by your country's diaspora can also be included - but that is not our priority.

Should media websites accessed via mobile phones also be included in the lists?

Currently, we are not including websites accessed via mobile phones. However, we hope to expand the project to include those in the future.

What do you mean by "network infrastructure" in the map?

Companies in the "purple countries" of the Trackography map host the network infrastructure required to reach the servers of the media websites you have selected, as well as the servers of the companies which track users through the selected websites. By network infrastructure we mean the satellites, fibre optic cables, switches, routers and international or national Internet carriers.

What does Trackography's software do?

Our software is designed to:

• perform an HTTP connection (using phantomjs) to every media website under analysis

• collect all the third party URLs which are included in the media websites under analysis

• perform a traceroute for every URL included in the media websites under analysis

• identify the countries which host the network infrastructure required to reach the servers of the media websites under analysis, as well as the third party servers included in the specific websites through a GeoIP conversion of all the included IP addresses

• send the results to our server

Who can run the software?

Any Linux user can potentially run our software. It's quite easy and details about how to run it can be viewed here.

I want to run the software, but I am not a Linux user. Can I?

Unfortunately not (yet).

How long does it take to run the software?

The software usually requires about 30 minutes to run and sends 8-15 megabytes of data to our server.

The software hasn't finished running and I need to relocate to another location under a different ISP. What should I do?

Freeze the software by pressing control + C. When you return to the same ISP, you can restart the software and resume from where you left it.

Should I run the software over Tor?

No, because our software performs traceroutes which cannot run over Tor. If the software is run over Tor, the web connection would appear from a different network point than the traceroutes and would lead to inaccurate results.

Can I run the software over a VPN?

If you would like to run the software over a VPN, please specify the country of your endpoint in the required field right before you start running the software. For example, if you are based in the United States but your VPN ends in Sweden, please specify the country with "-c sweden". It is also recommended that you add the option "-i".

Once the software has run, should I send the results to you?

No need to. Once you've run the software, the results will automatically be transmitted to our server. If you would like to prevent your collected data from automatically being transmitted to our server, please add the option "-d".

If you have any questions or concerns which we have not addressed in the above FAQ section, please feel free to contact us at trackmap@tacticaltech.org

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