Research & Reports
For years, the road to news media financial sustainability was said to be paved with data—digital news outlets were counseled to collect as many details about their readers as possible in order to deliver more relevant content as well as to support more lucrative, targeted advertising. Yet, more recently, citizens and policymakers alike have grown concerned about the pervasive tracking of web users. This has led to a new wave of data protection laws and regulations worldwide that seek to empower people and curtail the excessive collection of personal data.
New analysis of the user tracking practices of 50 independent news sites in 10 developing countries.
92 percent of digital media outlets analyzed employed third-party tracking devices.
Over 150 unique companies are monitoring website visitors on the media outlets analyzed. Many of these operate in an opaque manner and do not disclose for whom they are collecting data.
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