Advertisers can track it if you enter your email address or other information on their website. This is apparent from research by Radboud University, KU Leuven and the University of Lausanne.
Researchers have discovered that thousands of websites are redirecting email addresses to other addresses without users’ knowledge and even before they click ‘send’. trace networks, companies that specialize in tracking Internet users. These companies map interests for personalized advertising. In some cases, even passwords were sent along.
“These are large websites that attract millions of visitors,” said lead researcher Asuman Şenol. These are mainly places outside the Netherlands, but can of course be visited by Dutch people. Not all websites are aware that data is being transferred, but others do so on purpose.
connect
“By collecting email addresses, they can connect your event to more than one place,” says our colleague Güneş Acar. Businesses know that your web activity can be linked to both places if you log in at home and at work with the same email address. This helps display personalized ads.
The researchers found 1,850 websites that forward European user data to tracking companies and 2,950 websites that do so for Americans.
“We find it very plausible that the difference lies in the functioning of the EU GDPR privacy law,” says Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius, a privacy lawyer who participated in the study. “But the less optimistic conclusion is that 1850 websites also did this for European users, while that was not allowed at all.”
transferred
Users should be clear about what happens to their personal information, such as their email address. But in practice this is not the case: your e-mail address is already passed on to “tracking companies” before you put it on a website. Watching as you write, the researchers concluded.
In some cases, data is sent under a pseudonym under privacy protection. This means they can connect with each other, but their email addresses won’t be read by the companies that collect them.
“We think that other data such as date of birth and name will also be sent, but we also did not have time to investigate this,” says enol.
Only four of the websites found end in .nl, including those of Bruna and Vogelbescherming. However, the researchers did not specifically target Dutch websites. Bruna says she didn’t forward their email address; Bird Protection could not be reached for comment.
However, some websites accessible in the Netherlands do share personal data, such as the Trello app, the online shopping platform Shopify and the hotel chain Marriott. American news sites also relay data. In some cases, this was modified after researchers contacted them.
Source: NOS
Smith Charles is a talented entertainment journalist and author at The Nation View. He has a passion for all things entertainment and writes about the latest movies, TV shows, music, and celebrity news. He’s known for his in-depth interviews with actors, musicians, and other industry figures, and his ability to provide unique perspectives on the entertainment industry.
