Our new report on tracking headers / W3C

Hi -

Thought this might interest you, given the TAG's statement on July 17 on
tracking headers and other privacy-related matters.

You may remember last year's story
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/verizon-atandt-tracking-their-users-with-super-cookies/2014/11/03/7bbbf382-6395-11e4-bb14-4cfea1e742d5_story.html>
on Verizon's use of "supercookies" to track users. In the wake, Access
launched AmIBeingTracked.com to allow users to see if the supercookie was
being used on their network.

Today, we have released a report on our findings. The report was covered by
the Wall Street Journal:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/08/17/study-finds-supercookies-used-outside-u-s/
..

Our report found alarming results, among them:

   - Evidence of widespread deployment. Carriers in 10 countries around the
   world, including Canada, China, India, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, the
   Netherlands, Spain, the United States, and Venezuela, are using tracking
   headers
   - Tracking headers have been around for nearly 15 years;
   - Users cannot block tracking headers because they are injected by
   carriers beyond their control, and they can attach to users even when
   roaming across international borders;
   - Tracking headers leak private information about users and make them
   vulnerable to criminal attacks or even government surveillance;
   - Tracking headers depend upon an HTTP, or unencrypted connection, to
   function, and may lead to fewer websites offering HTTPS.

The full report is available here
<https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2015/08/17/read-our-new-report-on-the-troubling-rise-of-tracking-headers-worldwide2>.


Feel free to write with questions.
-- 
Deji Olukotun
Senior Global Advocacy Manager
Access | accessnow.org

tel: +1 415-935-4572 | @dejiridoo
PGP: 0x6012CDA8
Fingerprint: 3AEE 4194 F70E C806 A810 857A 6AD5 8F48 6012 CDA8

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