DuckDuckGo Shares List of Web Trackers That Gather User Data

Privacy centric Internet search engine DuckDuckGo has been compiling a data set of web trackers and the firm is now sharing that data publicly and open-sourcing the code that generates it.

"There will be others using it," including browsers more widely used than Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo Founder and Chief Executive Gabriel Weinberg said in an exclusive interview, CNET reported on Thursday.

Called Tracker Radar, it includes the most common cross-site trackers, plus detailed info on things like their prevalence, ownership, cookie behaviour and privacy policy.

Tracker Radar details 5,326 Internet domains used by 1,727 companies and organisations that track users online.

The data is available to anyone, and browser maker Vivaldi said on Tuesday it has begun doing so.

The data and its adoption reflect the growing importance of protecting privacy. The online ad industry is one of the biggest privacy infringers, building profiles of people so that it can target ads more effectively.

Apple has long pushed for better privacy. Now even the biggest online ad companies, Google and Facebook, say it's a priority, too, the report added.