41 lines
2.5 KiB
TeX
41 lines
2.5 KiB
TeX
\chapter{Conclusion}
|
|
\label{chap:conclusion}
|
|
|
|
Web tracking is an increasing concern of individual users trying to protect
|
|
their privacy. They see themselves fighting against a conglomerate of tracking
|
|
companies that seek to sell big amounts of personal user data. Once harmless and
|
|
well-intentioned mechanisms such as \gls{HTTP} cookies have been repurposed over
|
|
time to serve the interests of those companies, often times at the expense of
|
|
individual users. Legitimate uses of tracking on the Internet such as for
|
|
personalizing search results or offering adequate recommendations for shopping
|
|
and entertainment have brought with themselves a myriad of other possibilities
|
|
to use user data. Since opting-out of the collection of \gls{PII} is usually not
|
|
possible, tools to combat privacy invasion via tracking have been and are still
|
|
developed. These tools offer users a chance to protect themselves to a degree
|
|
which they seem fit as long as they possess the knowledge to do so.
|
|
|
|
This thesis serves as an introduction to tracking on the Internet. Various forms
|
|
of online tracking have been discussed and their functionality explained. For
|
|
every method its occurrence on the Web has been quantified, giving users an
|
|
overview of which methods are more widespread and which less. Furthermore,
|
|
an objective evaluation of each method with respect to the impact on users'
|
|
privacy is given, allowing users to make a well-founded threat assessment for
|
|
their individual use case and preference.
|
|
|
|
In chapter~\ref{chap:defenses against tracking}, users are given the tools to
|
|
defend themselves against the previously discussed tracking methods. The
|
|
advantages and disadvantages of each tool are presented and common
|
|
misconceptions are dealt with. Additionally, it becomes clear that users have to
|
|
make tradeoffs between privacy and ease of use, where more privacy often results
|
|
in not being able to visit certain sites (for example when disabling
|
|
JavaScript).
|
|
|
|
The arms race between tracking and advertising companies and users will continue
|
|
for the foreseeable future. For individuals achieving full protection against
|
|
any and all trackers is practically impossible even today. This will continue
|
|
further as long as consumers give their privacy away for supposedly \emph{free}
|
|
services and governments do not impose severe penalties on privacy violations
|
|
not only on paper but by following through on them. Until then, only
|
|
knowledgeable users will be able to defend themselves and it will get harder
|
|
with every passing year.
|