TL;DR
A PoPETS 2026 study analyzed historical snapshots of government sites across 61 countries from 1996–2025 and found that third-party tracking became common, appearing on roughly half of studied sites by 2025. Tracking growth was largely driven by external services and concentrated among a few large US-based organizations, with substantial regional variation in exposure.
What happened
Researchers performed a large-scale longitudinal analysis of tracking on government websites, using archived snapshots from the Internet Archive spanning nearly three decades (1996–2025). The dataset covered government sites in 61 countries and measured the presence and evolution of third-party trackers over time. Results indicate a marked shift: third-party tracking moved from being uncommon to routine, with approximately 50% of the examined government pages containing third-party trackers by 2025. The increase in tracking activity was driven mainly by external services rather than in-house deployments. The landscape is dominated by a small number of large, US-based organizations, accompanied by a long tail of smaller or lesser-known tracking entities. The study also documents substantial heterogeneity across regions, implying varying levels of user exposure to privacy and security risks tied to public-service web platforms. The authors frame these findings as a call to consider privacy and data-sovereignty measures for government digital services.
Why it matters
- Citizens use government websites for essential services; embedded trackers may expose sensitive browsing interactions to third parties.
- Concentration of trackers among a few large organizations raises cross-border data flow and governance concerns.
- Regional differences in tracker adoption mean uneven privacy and security exposure for users in different countries.
- The shift from rare to routine third-party tracking on public sites challenges assumptions about public-sector digital sovereignty and control.
Key facts
- Study published in the Proceedings of the 26th Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PoPETS) 2026.
- Authors: Sachin Kumar Singh, Faisal Mahmud, Robert Ricci, and Sandra Silby.
- Coverage: government websites in 61 countries.
- Time span of analysis: approximately 1996–2025 using Internet Archive snapshots.
- By 2025, roughly 50% of studied government websites included third-party trackers.
- Growth in tracking was driven predominantly by external (third-party) services rather than internal implementations.
- Tracking ecosystem is concentrated: a few large US-based organizations dominate, with a long tail of smaller actors.
- Substantial heterogeneity across regions indicates varying user exposure to tracking-related privacy and security issues.
What to watch next
- Regulatory or policy responses targeting third-party tracking on public-sector websites — not confirmed in the source.
- Adoption of technical controls or procurement rules by governments to limit external trackers on official sites — not confirmed in the source.
- Follow-up studies tracking adoption trends after 2025 to see whether the share of sites using third-party trackers continues to rise or falls — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- Third-party tracker: Code, cookies, scripts, or services embedded on a website that collect data and are operated by organizations other than the site owner.
- Longitudinal study: A research approach that examines data collected from the same subjects or sources across an extended period to observe changes over time.
- Internet Archive: A digital library that preserves snapshots of web pages and other digital content, commonly used for historical web research.
- Data sovereignty: The concept that data are subject to the laws and governance of the country where they are stored or processed.
- PoPETS: Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium, an academic conference focused on research into privacy-preserving technologies and practices.
Reader FAQ
What was the scope of the study?
The study examined government websites across 61 countries using Internet Archive snapshots spanning about 1996–2025.
How common is third-party tracking on government sites?
By 2025, roughly half of the examined government websites contained third-party trackers, according to the study.
Who are the main trackers?
The tracking ecosystem is concentrated: a few large US-based organizations dominate, alongside a long tail of smaller players.
Does the study recommend specific fixes?
Not confirmed in the source.
:: front page ›› publications view people :: projects :: contact The Empire Strikes Back (at Your Privacy): An Archaeology of Tracking on Government Websites Sachin Kumar Singh, Faisal Mahmud,…
Sources
- An archaeology of tracking on government websites
- An Archaeology of Tracking on Government Websites
- Tracking Government Information
- Inside The Race To Save Government Websites Before …
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