Datentracking

Datentracking refers to techniques and systems that collect data about users, devices, and their interactions with digital services. Data tracking supports analytics, product improvement, marketing, and security. Tracking can occur client-side (in browsers or apps) and server-side, and may involve different data types: technical metadata (IP address, user agent, device identifiers), behavioral data (pages viewed, clicks, time on page, search queries), contextual data (location, language), and telemetry from software.

Common methods include cookies and similar identifiers, web beacons and pixel tags, JavaScript trackers, mobile software development kits, server logs, and device fingerprinting. Data may be bundled or linked across sessions and devices to create profiles. Practices vary by industry and platform, and may be performed with or without real-time collection.

Privacy and legal considerations: data tracking is subject to data protection laws in many jurisdictions. Legal bases include consent and legitimate interests; users may be granted rights such as access, deletion, and objection. Organizations often perform data minimization, pseudonymization, and anonymization, and may conduct data protection impact assessments for high-risk processing. Cross-border transfers require safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions.

Ethics and risk: tracking can enable personalized experiences but raises concerns about surveillance, discrimination, and loss of anonymity. Transparency, easy opt-out mechanisms, and clear privacy notices are common safeguards.

Limitations and challenges: decreasing cookie support in browsers, ad blockers, privacy regulations, and the technical difficulty of accurate cross-device tracking. Data quality and retention policies influence the usefulness of tracking data.