TrackingObserver: A Browser-Based
Web Tracking Detection Platform

Get TrackingObserver

TrackingObserver is available as a Chrome extension. You can install it from the Chrome Web Store here. Its source code is also available on GitHub here.


Add-Ons

By itself, TrackingObserver only detects trackers, but it doesn't show anything interesting to users. To fully take advantage of TrackingObserver, you can install any of the following add-ons (themselves Chrome extensions) -- or you can develop your own!

Be sure to install TrackingObserver first, before installing any desired add-ons.

Available Add-Ons

Graph Visualization: Displays a graph visualization of detected trackers (similar to Mozilla Lightbeam).
Install from the Chrome Web Store or download source code.




Per-Tab Visualization: Notifies you of trackers detected on the current tab (similar to Ghostery).
Install from the Chrome Web Store or download source code.




Blocking Dashboard: Allows you to block trackers by category (as described on the overview page).
Install from the Chrome Web Store or download source code.




Measurement Tool: Enables automated browsing for web measurements, intended for researchers.
Install from the Chrome Web Store or download source code.




Raw Data Display: Displays all collected data in a raw form, intended for use with the measurement tool.
Install from the Chrome Web Store or download source code.

TrackingObserver was created by Franziska Roesner, Chris Rovillos, Alisha Saxena, and Tadayoshi Kohno as a research project of the University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering. TrackingObserver extends earlier research by Franziska Roesner, Tadayoshi Kohno, and David Wetherall.

This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation (Grant CNS-0846065 and a Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant DGE-0718124) and by a Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship.