You're Probably Being Tracked If You Visit These Sites

Video hosting sites, cloud storage providers, web email, and information technology sites have the most trackers, according to NordVPN.

Do you visit video hosting and entertainment sites?

Well, you have a lot of company -- and they may be closer than you'd like.

Video hosting sites, cloud storage providers, web email, and information technology sites have the most trackers, according to research by cybersecurity company NordVPN.

While many trackers are a tool for advertising and improving user experience, NordVPN warns that they may also be handy for online spies.

Internet service providers, marketing agencies, social media companies, and governments can access your online actions and breach your privacy.

Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity advisor at NordVPN, said many of these websites are "full of third-party trackers that analyze your browsing history to find out what you do online." 

NordVPN’s Threat Protection feature blocked 239 billion trackers at video hosting sites alone in December 2022, the company said.

"The online world is challenging people in every single move they make," Warmenhoven said. "Want to read an article? Dozens of ads and pop-ups are ready to immediately cover your screen. Another privacy threat – malware – is lurking for you on websites and in files you are about to download."

And just where in the world are these trackers located?

The U.S. had the third highest average number of trackers per website, according to earlier NordVPN research, coming in behind Hong Kong and Singapore and ahead of Australia.

The high number of trackers indicates a need for a culture shift in these countries, NordVPN, and more legal protection of digital user privacy.

How to Become Less Trackable

In contrast, Northern and Central European websites had very few trackers, indicating digital privacy is more respected. Austrian websites had the lowest number of trackers.

Warmenhoven said you can become less trackable online by declining third party cookies, since the website can sell your browsing data to third parties.

In addition, he said, you can use a VPN, which will hide your real IP address and location; install a tracker blocker, which will stop your browsers from collecting information about you; use privacy browsers, which can obfuscate your browser fingerprint, or you can ditch Google  (GOOG) - Get Free Report, which tracks a lot of data about you.

Malware is a malicious software that looks to damage or compromise a device or data and its scope varies from relatively harmless to extremely dangerous, NordVPN said.

Malicious software can track your data, steal sensitive information, or even delete it without your consent.

NordVPN research shows that adult content sites, cloud storage providers and entertainment sites contain the biggest amount of malware. 

Intrusive ads are irritating because they pop up unexpectedly, block the host page, open new pages and windows, or play video and audio at incredibly inconvenient times.

The majority of them were found on streaming, adult content, and online shopping sites, NordVPN said.

Warmenhoven said that ad blockers are essential for both security "because they block ads that can infect people’s devices and privacy because annoying ads rely on collecting data from web activity and violating people’s privacy."

“Also, if a website is loading slower than usual, you can blame intrusive ads,” he said. “Free apps filled with unwanted ads could also drain your device’s battery faster.”