SoK: Advances and Open Problems in Web Tracking

arXiv:2506.14057 · cs.CR, cs.CY, cs.NI · Submitted 2025-06-16 · Read on arXiv

cs.CR, cs.CY, cs.NI

Submitted: 2025-06-16

Updated: 2026-09-16

Comments: Extended Version is available at: https://github.com/privacysandstorm/sok-advances-open-problems-web-tracking

Code: https://github.com/privacysandstorm/sok-advances-open-problems-web-tracking

Project page: https://privacycg.github.io/storage-partitioning

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: Web tracking is a pervasive and opaque practice that enables personalized advertising, retargeting, and conversion tracking.

Terminology

Fingerprinting — 98× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Generative AI — 7× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Global Privacy Control — 7× in this paper
IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy — 5× in this paper
Same-Origin Policy — 4× in this paper
Perplexity — 3× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Personalization — 3× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Robustness — 3× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
Accountability — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Accuracy — 2× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Intelligent Tracking Protection — 2× in this paper
Systematization of Knowledge — 2× in this paper
AI Integration — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Actor — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Agentic Search — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Calibration — 1× in this paper · explained in 7 episodes
Cooperation — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Do No Track — 1× in this paper
Generalizability — 1× in this paper · explained in 6 episodes
HTTP Strict Transport Security — 1× in this paper
Semiconductor Research Corporation — 1× in this paper
State Management — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Steering — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Trace — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes

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.

SoK: Advances and Open Problems in Web Tracking

Terminology

Abstract

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