Flux Research Group / School of Computing

Where in the World Are My Trackers? Mapping Web Tracking Flow Across Diverse Geographic Regions

Sachin Kumar Singh, Robert Ricci, and Alexander Gamero-Garrido

Proceedings of the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2025.

areas
Networking

abstract

Web trackers are pervasive on the Internet, collecting user data as it flows from the end user's devices to servers. Understanding the physical location of these servers and trackers data flow is essential for assessing privacy risks and ensuring control over user data. While much of the existing research focuses on the Global North, especially the EU where regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are in place, the Global South, where most Internet users reside, remains under-studied. We address this gap by collecting measurements from the web browser and the data-plane (IP of responding server & latency) on the same device. A challenge to apply this approach in the Global South is the lower density of observation points in measurement infrastructure. To address this, we build a software suite that automatically collects measurements in various countries from a volunteer's computer. Our suite is interoperable with all major OSes and requires limited user intervention. We apply our method across 23 geographically diverse countries, offering in-depth insights into tracker data flow.