Privacy is a factor that matters a lot to users when browsing the Internet. Personal data, information on sites visited or services used, have great value on the web. This means that we can be included in Spam campaigns, they send us targeted advertising or even our data is sold to third parties. In this article we are going to talk about how the tracking pixel has become a real security and privacy issue.
The tracking pixel is widely used to collect information
First you have to know what a tracking pixel is . They are basically small files, which are usually images in PNG or JPG format, which are attached to an email. The user receives this e-mail and, without knowing it, has embedded a file that is not visible to the naked eye but is capable of collecting information.
Those spy pixels can be just a white background and the size is miniscule. In fact, that’s where its name comes from: it is usually 1 × 1 pixels. A group of security researchers has now found that a large part of the emails sent contain these types of files.
Keep in mind that email users do not have to interact in any way with those pixels. They wouldn’t have to do anything with the files to allow the sender of that email to collect data.
Once that run is opened, that pixel is automatically downloaded and begins to track . This file sends a signal to the server of a marketing company, for example, indicating that the email has been opened. You can also send information such as the IP address, the number of times that email has been opened or the type of device.
This technique, tracking pixels, is nothing new. Those responsible for marketing campaigns use them to measure whether a series of emails are successful, if they receive a good response, etc. However now computer security researchers have found a significant increase in the use of this feature.
Tracking pixels put security at risk
Beyond simply collecting user data and being able to sell it to third parties for profit, the truth is that this technique can also put users’ safety at risk. They can also use this data to send phishing attacks and other threats that compromise our systems. One option is always to create a temporary email account.
Luckily it is possible to avoid all this. Most major email providers have a feature to block automatic download of images and files . In this way, when opening an email we would not be sending data to a third party.
Protecting our e-mail account by preventing the download of pixels will be essential to preserve privacy. Many of the main attacks come through this means of communication. Hence the importance of always protecting email and not falling into attacks and spam campaigns that may affect us.
