How Your Web Activity Is Tracked
(and how to stop it)
Our online activity is rarely known only to us - the sites we visit, the adverts we click, and what we do on each page are all often being recorded by someone somewhere.

Most of this is simply by advertisers who want to target their ads to the right people, as well as website owners wanting to learn how their sites are used. But whilst most tracking and monitoring is non-malicious, and those doing it don't know who you are, it can still seem a bit creepy.
So who's doing online website tracking, how, and how can we block it?
Jump straight to topic:
Who's tracking my web activity?
Many different groups are interested in learning what we do online, whether that's website owners, anti-fraud tools, or advertisers. The same techniques used by these can also be used by less savoury groups too, such as fraudsters or the government.
Advertisers
How often have you visited a website, only to see adverts for that website regularly popping up for the next few days?
Many adverts are served up by large advertising networks. They know whenever you visit a page with their adverts, allowing them to build up a profile of your interests and to target adverts more effectively. This is known as "behavioural advertising".
Website owners
Almost all websites use analytics to help identify improvements. This includes looking at how many visits the site gets, how users found it, the order of pages viewed, & which pages are popular.
BeCyberSafe.com uses Google Analytics for this (our Privacy page has full details including how to opt out). We only see where users come from, the pages visited, & a few other basics - we don't get to see anything else (nor would we want to!).
Online stores
Shops want to know what you're looking at to help them sell you more goods - an obvious example of this is Amazon's personalised recommendations feature.
But as well as monitoring your clicks, some shops go further and profile users to adjust prices. Orbitz were once found to be showing pricier hotel options to Mac users, whilst Staples varied the prices of goods based on where the customer lived.
Fraud-prevention tools
Websites that involve financial transactions, such as shopping or banking, will often use some form of anti-fraud tracking.
This will typically use website code provided by 3rd parties, such as ThreatMetrix or Experian. They can work in several ways, for example by analysing how web forms are filled out (fraudsters are generally quicker & less random than real-world users).
Your device may also be 'fingerprinted' to check if it's been seen in a fraud case before. This works by taking many anonymous data points such as screen size, system time, & browser, and combining these to create a unique 'fingerprint'.
Spyware
Spyware are unwanted applications that monitor what you're doing. They're like viruses in the way they infect your computer (antivirus programs should catch them), but with their purpose being to earn money, for example by redirecting your web searches.
Governments
Governments will also sometimes monitor people's internet activities. Whilst this is often only in criminal cases (and with judiciary oversight), some governments go much further - it's known for example that China monitor the internet usage of their citizens, censoring free speech and limiting the websites they can view.
How do websites track you?
Computers are not simple things - there are many methods by which companies do online website tracking. Some of the main ones are described below:
Cookies
These are small text files saved on your computer - they're regularly used by sites to store information such as your shopping cart or to record that you're logged on.
"Super Cookies"
Some sites store data in other ways too, such as in images or your browsing history. These are known as "Super Cookies" as they're often difficult to delete.
IP addresses
An IP address is an identifier for your device - it's like a street address for the internet. It can sometimes reveal roughly where you are in the world too.
Website code
Code running on a webpage can do all sorts of things, such as to call home with certain details, or to create a unique fingerprint of your web browser or computer.
Tracking bugs
These are tiny 1-pixel images that track when you've visited a page. Marketing emails use them to see when you've opened the email.
Logged-in activity
Whenever you login to a website they'll gather data as you use the site, using this (for example) to suggest other items to buy.
User Agent
A "User Agent" is a description of the web browser you use. As this can be highly detailed it can be used to track you as you browse.
HTTP Referrer
When you visit a website your PC tells it where you've just come from; this is known as a "HTTP Referrer". Details within this can sometimes identify you.
Internet infrastructure
Monitoring raw data is normally only done by governments; this for example is how China knows & controls what their citizens see online.
What can I do to avoid being tracked?

Ultimately it's very difficult to avoid being tracked - there are so many ways in which our computers can be identified and our activities tracked. It's worth being aware too that some aspects of tracking - such as fraud detection - are critical for a webpage to work; by opting out of (or blocking) tracking you may end up not being able to use certain websites.
Below we've detailed some of the things you can do - both simple and advanced - to keep your web activity as private as possible.
1) Configure the major websites
Many websites will record what you do whilst you're logged in to them. Sadly this is nothing we can control for most sites, but for a few of the huge websites we can at least tell them not to track us as we visit other websites.
If you have an account with any of these websites below then follow the link and check your personal preferences:
2) Check your browser settings
Your web browser (the program which you access the internet from) is the main gatekeeper between you and the web - it has a lot of power to control what information websites can see about you, and whether or not you can be tracked.
a) General browser settings

The browser menu is where you'll find a lot of privacy-related options. Here, for example, you'll be able to specify whether your browser can send data back to it's own manufacturer (such as Microsoft, Google, or Apple), as well as the types of 'cookies' (small text files) that websites are allowed to write.
You should go through the settings for your browser and restrict permissions down to only those you're happy to give. General settings are shown in the boxes below, with specific details for configuring your browser below that.
- Block third party cookies - these are cookies written by sites other than the one you're visiting, such as advertisers.
- Set your browser to block (or ask before using) your location, camera, and microphone.
- If your browser has it, enable any tracking protection and send "Do not track requests" (different browsers describe this slightly differently). Many websites ignore any Do Not Track requests but it's still worth setting for those that do honour it.
- Check if you're logged in to your browser, eg with your Google account when using Chrome. Some people find this useful - eg you can access your bookmarks from other devices - but it does mean some data is shared externally.
- Disable any options that send usage statistics or other data back to the browser manufacturer or search engines.
You can find the options for setting these in your browser by clicking the "Show me how" link:
- Go to Settings (click the 3 vertical dots icon at the top right and find the option for "Settings")
- At the top you'll see if you're signed in with your Google account or not. Either sign out completely, or alternatively go into the settings for "Sync" and adjust what items you're happy to be shared with Google. By syncing data you'll have access to it (for example your bookmarks or browsing history) on other devices. The flipside of course is that Google will also be able to see this.
- Back in the main settings list, scroll down to the bottom & select "Advanced".
- Under the "Privacy and security" section are various options. Toggling these off will stop data being sent to Google but may reduce your web experience, for example suggested search terms or website names may not be autocompleted as you type them. Whatever you choose, it's worth keeping enabled:
- "Send a do not track request with your browsing traffic", and
- "Safe Browsing (Protects you and your device from dangerous sites)".
- Now find and click the option for "Content Settings". Here you'll find options for the general settings listed in the boxes above:
- Set "Cookies" to "Block third-party cookies".
- Set "Location" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Camera" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Microphone" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Flash" to "Ask first". This is a security issue as well as a privacy one.
- Set "Unsandboxed plugin access" to "Ask first". This is also security issue.
- Set "Clipboard" to "Ask before accessing".
- You can get more help from Google's help page.
- Go to Settings (click the 3 horizontal dots icon at the top right and find the option for "Settings")
- Under "Account" you might be signed in with your Windows account. If you are, click "Windows sync settings" to open a window where you can customise what is sent to Microsoft. Toggle "Sync settings" to On and then enable or disable each option as you want.
- Back in Edge & on the Settings menu, find the "Advanced" settings (this might be shown as a little slider icon to the left, under the icons of a cog, padlock, and a key).
- Under "Website permissions" review whether any individual website has been granted any access to anything such as your camera, location, or microphone. Often this is blank.
- Now click on the padlock icon to get to the "Privacy & security" menu. Toggling off the options shown here will stop data being sent to Microsoft but may reduce your web experience, for example suggested search terms or website names may not be auto-completed as you type them. Whatever you choose, it's worth keeping enabled:
- "Block only third-party cookies",
- "Send Do Not Track requests", and
- "Windows Defender SmartScreen".
- You can get more help from Microsoft's help page.
- Go to Settings (click the 3 horizontal lines icon at the top right and find the option for "Options")
- Click on "Search" on the menu on the left. Under "Default Search Engine", you'll find the option "Provide search suggestions". Unchecking this will prevent what you type from being sent to your search engine until you hit Enter (rather than on every key press), but may reduce your web experience as you won't receive suggestions of search terms. Whether you want to uncheck this or not is personal preference.
- Now click on "Privacy and Security" on the menu on the left.
- Under the "Content Blocking" heading:
- Check the box for "Trackers" and select "Always".
- Check the box for "Third-Party Cookies" and select "All third-party cookies".
- Set "Send websites a "Do Not Track" signal that you don’t want to be tracked" to "Always".
- Under the "History" section set the drop down option to "Use custom settings for history". This will now show various additional options - you can choose whether you want Firefox to remember your search and browsing history, and whether you want it to clear items whenever you close the browser. This can be a good idea to stop any items containing personal data from accumulating.
- Under the "Permissions" section, you can click through each of Location, Camera, and Microphone, to see whether any sites have been granted those permissions already, and revoke them if they have.
- Then under "Firefox Data Collection and Use" make sure neither box is ticked. This will stop your browser sending this data back to Mozilla (the makers of Firefox).
- Finally, under "Security" and "Deceptive Content and Dangerous Software Protection", ensure that all boxes are ticked to give you protection against dangerous content and downloads.
- You can get more help from the Firefox help page.
- Go to Settings (click the red "O" logo in the top left of the screen to open the menu and find the option for "Settings")
- Under the "Block Ads" section, choose whether to block adverts or not. Blocking them means they won't track you, and can speed up your browsing experience. On the flipside though some websites won't work with this adblocking in place (websites rely on advertising to make money, so some will actively force you to see adverts if you want to see the page).
- Scroll down to "Synchronisation" and check if you're signed in with your Opera account. If you are then log out.
- Under the "Privacy and security" section further down are various other options. Toggling these off will stop data being sent to Opera but may reduce your web experience, for example suggested search terms or website names may not be autocompleted as you type them. Whatever you choose, it's worth keeping enabled:
- "Send a 'Do Not Track' request with your browsing traffic", and
- "Protect me from malicious sites".
- Now go back to and select the option for "Content Settings":
- Set "Cookies" to "Block third-party cookies".
- Set "Location" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Camera" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Microphone" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Flash" to "Ask first". This is a security issue as well as a privacy one.
- Set "Unsandboxed plugin access" to "Ask first". This is also security issue.
- Set "MIDI devices" to "Ask first". This is also security issue.
- Set "Clipboard" to "Ask before accessing".
- You can get more help from the Opera help page.
- Go to Settings on your phone
- Scroll down to the option labelled "Safari"
- Review the settings here and configure them how you want.
- Go to Settings (tap the 3 vertical dots icon at the top right and find the option for "Settings")
- At the top you'll see if you're signed in with your Google account or not. If you are, tap your name and either sign out completely, or adjust what items you're happy to be shared with Google. By syncing data you'll have access to it (for example your bookmarks or browsing history) on other devices. The flipside of course is that Google will also be able to see this.
- Back in the main settings list, scroll down and select "Privacy".
- Here you'll find various options you can set. Toggling these off will stop data being sent to Google but may reduce your web experience, for example website names may not be autocompleted as you type them. Whatever you choose, it's worth keeping enabled:
- "Do not track", and
- "Safe browsing".
- Now go back to the main settings page and tap the option for "Site settings". Here you'll find options for the general settings listed in the boxes above:
- Set "Cookies" to "Block third-party cookies".
- Set "Location" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Camera" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Microphone" to "Ask before accessing".
- Set "Ads" to "Blocked from some sites".
- If you were to tap "All sites" at the top of the menu, you'll see a list of all websites you've visited. Clicking any of these will show you specific permissions that each site has; you can modify them if there's any site you want to have a different setting for.
- You can get more help from Google's help page.
b) Clear your browser cache
Once you've updated your browser settings, it's a good idea to delete any data that's already been stored so that you're starting from fresh. This can include temporary files, your search history, cookies, and many other saved items.
Whilst most browsers allow you to keep data from your favourite sites, be aware that any passwords you've saved might be deleted too (ie you may have to re-enter some passwords when you next visit these websites).
- Click the 3 vertical dots icon at the top right of the browser window and find the option called "More tools")
- Select "Clear browsing data".
- In here you can choose what to clear - a common option is to select "Advanced" and select all except "Passwords" (ensure the Time range is set to "All time"). When you're happy, click the "Clear data" button.
- You can get more help from Google's help page.
- Click the 3 horizontal dots icon at the top right of the browser window and scroll to the bottom to find the option called "Settings")
- Go to the "Privacy & security" section and find the "Clear browsing data" heading. Click "Choose what to clear".
- In here you can choose what to clear - a common option is to select all except "Passwords". When you're happy, click the "Clear" button.
- You can also set Edge to clear all this data every time you close the browser; this can be a good option to select.
- You can get more help from Microsoft's help page.
- Go to Settings (click the 3 horizontal lines icon at the top right and find the option for "Options")
- Click on "Privacy and Security" menu on the left.
- Click the "Clear History" button under the "History" heading.
- Choose the items to clear (by default all items are selected) and the time range (you might want to change this to "Everything"), and then click the "Clear Now" button.
- You can get more help from the Firefox help page.
- Click the red "O" logo in the top left of the screen to open the menu.
- Click on "History" on the menu on the left (it's the little icon of a clock), and then click the "Clear browsing data" button.
- In here you can choose what to clear - a common option is to select "Advanced" and select all except "Passwords" (ensure the Time range is set to "All time"). When you're happy, click the "Clear data" button.
- You can get more help from the Opera help page.
- Go to Settings on your phone
- Scroll down to the option labelled "Safari"
- Towards the bottom you'll see the option for "Clear History and Website Data". Tap this and accept the prompt too.
- Go to Settings (tap the 3 vertical dots icon at the top right and find the option for "Settings")
- Scroll down and select "Privacy".
- At the bottom you'll find "Clear browsing data". Tap this and clear the data you want to.
- You can get more help from Google's help page.
c) Use private mode in browsers
All browsers these days offer a private mode for maximum protection; this effectively is the same as setting all the privacy settings shown above - and more - to the maximum. The different browsers all vary in exactly how they work, and while they'll generally ensure that no site data, cookies, or history are saved, they will still let you save any downloaded files.
Be aware too that these browser modes do not make you anonymous on the internet - they may block some forms of tracking, but your internet provider will still be able to see which websites you're visiting.
- Click the 3 vertical dots icon at the top right of the browser window and find the option called "New incognito window")
- Read the description so that you know what this mode does, and then start browsing!
- Click the 3 horizontal dots icon at the top right of the browser window and scroll down and click on "New InPrivate window")
- Read the description so that you know what this mode does, and then start browsing!
- Go to Settings (click the 3 horizontal lines icon at the top right and find the option for "New Private Window")
- Read the description so that you know what this mode does, and then start browsing!
- Click the red "O" logo in the top left of the screen to open the menu.
- Scroll down and click on "New private window"
- Open up Safarip
- At the bottom right of the screen, tap the icon to open a new tab
- At the bottom left you'll now see the label "Private". Tap this and the private mode will begin.
d) Browser extensions
Another option to increase your privacy would be to install a browser extension that's been specifically designed to prevent websites & advertisers from tracking you. These are pieces of software that sit in your browser, watching the websites you visit & giving you full control of what they're doing.
Notable ones include Ghostery and the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Privacy Badger.
But whilst some browser extensions can be useful (as seen above), extensions can be abused by criminals or unscrupulous advertisers to spy on you and watch everything you do on the web. These rogue extensions may advertise themselves as something useful or fun in order to persuade people to install them, but actually are really designed to spy on users instead. If you do use extensions then only ever install ones from companies you know and trust.
It's also worth quickly checking that no extensions have been installed that you don't recognise. It's unlikely, but it's worth a check - click below to see how.
- Click the 3 vertical dots icon at the top right of the browser window and find the option called "More tools")
- Select "Extensions".
- In here you can see all the extensions that have been installed in Chrome. Uninstall any you don't recognise by clicking "Remove".
- Click the 3 horizontal dots icon at the top right of the browser window and scroll down and click on "Extensions")
- In here you can see all the extensions that have been installed in Edge. Hover over any and click the cog icon to the right to view it's details - you can then uninstall any you don't recognise.
- Go to Settings (click the 3 horizontal lines icon at the top right and find the option for "Add-ons")
- Click on "Extensions" on the left menu.
- In here you can see all the extensions that have been installed in Firefox. You can click on the item to view information, or uninstall any you don't recognise.
- Click the red "O" logo in the top left of the screen to open the menu.
- Scroll down and click "Extensions", and then "Extensions" again.
- In here you can see all the extensions that have been installed in Opera. You can click the exclamation mark icon to view information on it, or disable any you don't recognise.
Note that Safari on an iPhone doesn't allow extensions.
3) Use an alternative search engine

Many people are suspicious of Google & Microsoft Bing for what data they store about us and our searches. Whilst they allow you to set your privacy preferences (see the pages for Google and Bing), many people still prefer to use other search engines that claim to not record anything at all.
Perhaps the best known of these is Duck Duck Go, an extremely popular search engine that gives results just as good as any other. You can visit their website directly, or even set it as your default search engine in your browser.
4) Advanced methods
Even if you set your browser privacy settings to the max and don't use a search engine that logs your activity, your internet activity can still be tracked (see, we told you it's difficult to avoid all tracking!)
By this point, if you want to go even further with disguising your activities, then it's probably not advertisers who you're worried about snooping on you but either criminals or maybe your own government. And whilst most governments would only ever use these powers for the prevention or investigation of criminal or terrorist activity, there are some countries who monitor their citizens as a matter of routine.
a) Virtual machines
Whilst the browser settings described above will stop most websites from tracking you, a more thorough method is to combine these with using a "Virtual Machine". This is a virtual computer that you run from inside your computer (it can be a weird concept to think about!), and which you reset to new every time you go online.
This means that any tracking elements that a sneaky website manages to install on your computer will be completely erased, preventing them from tracking you between sessions (although note that if you log into any website you can still be tracked from your account).
Common virtual machines (sometimes just called "VMs") are made by VMWare & Microsoft.
b) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

VPNs create a secure tunnel to send your web traffic through to help keep it safe from prying eyes.
So far on this page all the advice has been on preventing websites from tracking you. But there's another way you can be monitored - your internet connection could be tapped and your data read.
This is where a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be useful. These create a secure tunnel between your computer & some other location on the internet, making it difficult for websites to identify where you really are. VPNs also prevent anyone from being able to intercept and view your activity too, for example to protect your data from criminals whilst using public wifi.
When a VPN is combined with all the browser settings above you'll be about as private on the internet as most people ever need to be. If you're interested in using a VPN, including how they work, what they do, and how to get one, then take a look at our full guide to VPNs.
c) Tor

A step beyond using just a regular VPN is to use something called "Tor" (an abbreviation of "The Onion Router", a name which is a reference to how it works). This tunnels your data & bounces it through thousands of computers all around the world in order to hide your identity.
Originally developed by the US government, it is now (somewhat ironically) heavily used by criminals to protect their identities whilst accessing the "dark web", a place where they gather to trade stolen credit cards, sell drugs & weapons, and even to traffic people.
And despite the large criminal element that use it, ToR can massively benefit many ordinary users too - for example by helping people in oppressed countries to access the internet safely.
For more information on Tor see the Tor Project website (note that this page may be blocked by some internet providers).