Computer Science > Cryptography and Security
arXiv:2506.14057 (cs)
Authors:Yash Vekaria (1), Yohan Beugin (2), Shaoor Munir (1), Gunes Acar (3), Nataliia Bielova (4), Steven Englehardt (5), Umar Iqbal (6), Alexandros Kapravelos (7), Pierre Laperdrix (8), Nick Nikiforakis (9), Jason Polakis (10), Franziska Roesner (11), Zubair Shafiq (1), Sebastian Zimmeck (12) ((1) University of California Davis, USA, (2) University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, (3) Radboud University, Netherlands, (4) Inria Centre at Universite Cote d'Azur, France, (5) Independent Researcher, USA, (6) Washington University in St. Louis, USA, (7) North Carolina State University, USA, (8) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, (9) Stony Brook University, USA, (10) University of Illinois Chicago, USA, (11) University of Washington, USA, (12) Wesleyan University, USA)
Abstract:Web tracking is a pervasive and opaque practice that enables personalized advertising, retargeting, and conversion tracking. Over time, it has evolved into a sophisticated and invasive ecosystem, employing increasingly complex techniques to monitor and profile users across the web. The research community has a long track record of analyzing new web tracking techniques, designing and evaluating the effectiveness of countermeasures, and assessing compliance with privacy regulations. Despite a substantial body of work on web tracking, the literature remains fragmented across distinctly scoped studies, making it difficult to identify overarching trends, connect new but related techniques, and identify research gaps in the field. Today, web tracking is undergoing a transformation, driven by fundamental shifts in the advertising industry, the adoption of anti-tracking countermeasures by browsers, and the growing enforcement of emerging privacy regulations. This Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) aims to consolidate and synthesize this wide-ranging research, offering a comprehensive overview of the technical mechanisms, countermeasures, and regulations that shape the modern and rapidly evolving web tracking landscape. This SoK also highlights open challenges and outlines directions for future research.
Submission history
From: Yohan Beugin [view email]
[v1]
Mon, 16 Jun 2025 23:30:54 UTC (4,387 KB)
[v2]
Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:10:57 UTC (7,695 KB)
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