"A tracking pixel is a small piece of code added to a website that sends information about the site's users to the platform that operates the pixel. That can include details of a user's activities, such as their browsing activity, purchases and searches. A website that embeds a pixel often does so to inform its advertising campaigns on the platform that create the pixel."
"When its pixel is embedded across many websites, the platform can compile a user's data to build a detailed profile of their interests, behavior and other personal information. These profiles allow other businesses to buy ads from the platform to target categories of users though this data can also be used for other purposes. When you look up a website in Blacklight, it will now report if it finds the TikTok pixel or X pixel."
"These students Yiyou Felix Fan, Jiawen Zena Hu, Hengye Li, Hongchen Steven Yang and Yiquan Frank Zhang researched and developed the features with the support of our product team. Blacklight's pixel detection features have already powered our Pixel Hunt investigations, which revealed that sensitive personal user information was being shared from government websites with Meta and Google, leading to lawsuits, removal of pixels from sites and increased government scrutiny."
Tracking pixels are small pieces of code added to websites that send information about site users to the platform operating the pixel, including browsing activity, purchases and searches. Embedded pixels inform advertising campaigns and, when placed across many websites, enable platforms to compile detailed profiles of user interests, behavior and other personal information. Those profiles can be purchased by other businesses for targeted advertising and can serve additional purposes. Blacklight now reports when it finds TikTok or X pixels on a website and offers downloadable archives with more detailed information. The pixel-detection features were developed with Brandeis University computer science students and have powered investigations revealing sensitive data sharing from government websites.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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