A Free Educational Resource Created by Carnegie Mellon University to Empower You to Secure Your Part of Cyberspace

Web Beacon

An invisible object that is placed on a web page or in an email that is used to monitor the activities of users

A web beacon is an invisible object that is placed on a web page or in an email that is used to monitor the activities of users. Web beacons have earned a host of nicknames, such as a web bug, tracking bug, page tag, tracking pixel, 1X1 GIF, clear GIF or pixel tag. Web beacons are used in combination with cookies by a website that records a user's actions to understand their behavior. The web beacon is an invisible image or text that is loaded with the web page that includes instructions. In this case, it instructs the page to call another website or server in order to obtain information about the user.

Marketing companies and websites track the browsing patterns of visitors to the website to help identify trends and create opportunities to influence users' choices through advertisements, coupons and other offers based on the web pages accessed. Websites also use web beacons to track traffic patterns of users from one page to another and to improve the performance of their website. Many companies that have a network of websites also use them to recognize users who are accessing their web pages across the different websites.

When a webpage that includes a web beacon is loaded and its instructions are triggered, the site is able to obtain the IP address of your computer or a proxy server, the type of browser being used, the time the page was accessed and the presence of any existing cookies previously set by the server. A web beacon is not a cookie, as it does not place anything on the user's computer. However, it can check for a cookie's presence and then obtain information about previous access by other third party or subsidiary websites. A web beacon included in an email provides the same information except for the data on existing cookies. In addition, this information is recorded every time the email is read, including forwarded copies of the email read by other recipients. Unfortunately, because web beacons can track users across web pages and domains, companies are able to build a database of their online activities.

Protective Measures

Practices

  • Choose an email client that does not download images embedded in HTML emails: Many email clients such as Yahoo, Gmail, Mozilla Thunderbird and Microsoft Outlook are configurable to avoid accessing remote images.
  • Thoroughly read a website's privacy policy: Reading the privacy policy will provide the user with information on what kind of tools and techniques the site employs and for what purposes. Also, it normally gives user instructions on how to opt-out.
  • Use the private browsing tools and features offered by your browser: All major browsers provide the feature of "private" browsing. While private browsing does not block tracking, it does delete browsing history and cookies once the window is closed, hence there is no browsing history available.

Settings

  • Disable or manage cookies: All browsers allow users to set cookie preferences at any time. Detailed instructions on how to set your cookie preferences is available here . By turning off your browser's ability to accept or retain cookies, you will also lose some of the advantages, such as making the website easier and faster for you by remembering your past preferences.

Tools

  • Ghostery  is one add-on for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox and is available for free.
  • Abine  is another add-on which is available for Mozilla Firefox.

Tools

Ethical Issues

Web beacons have many good uses that aid in creating a more customized experience for users, but websites and companies should include information about their practices in their privacy policy. The policy should advise customers that their activities are being monitored, include what kind of information is being recorded, how the information is being used, who is collecting it, what their policy for sharing is and it should also provide users with the option to opt-in or opt-out.

Legal Issues

While the law has not been able to keep up with the rapid change in technology and techniques, companies and marketing affiliates have taken notice of the concerns by users. The network advertising initiative has issued guidelines for companies to use as best practices for the use of web beacons on their websites or in emails.

Privacy Issues

Typically, web beacons are used to help customize a site for a user or used by companies and marketers to develop new products and services that match users' preferences. However, they are also used heavily by spammers to validate email addresses by confirming if the emails have been read. These activities are carried out without the knowledge of the user, and many web beacons are used by third parties who are able to collate information from a large number of websites and will hold personal trends and information about users, which can then be sold and used for other purposes.

References

Links

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