the.com/tracker

The internet never forgets, and now it takes notes on everything you do.

means A tool or piece of code that follows and records what you do — where you go, what you click, how long you linger — so someone else can build a profile of your behavior.

from From 'track,' rooted in the idea of following footprints or a trail left in the ground — hunters and scouts 'tracked' game long before anyone imagined digital trails. The '-er' turns the verb into 'the one who does the following.' By the 20th century 'tracking' extended to radar, shipments, and eventually software that follows your clicks the way a hound follows a scent — the wilderness metaphor never really left, it just moved indoors.

average per site
most websites run 5 to 10 trackers silently
first one
the HTTP cookie, invented 1994, by Lou Montulli
invisible pixel
1x1 images that exist only to spy
not just ads
analytics, fonts, and 'like' buttons track you too
the.com · every word