Evaluation of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies Against Web Tracking

Conference papers

Authors

Resul Bedii Gumus , Boban Joksimoski and Tugce Balli

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of Privacy- Enhancing Technologies (PETs) in mitigating modern web tracking. Building on a review of PETs and web measurement frameworks, we conduct large-scale experiments using the T.EX framework on the Tranco Top-1,000 domains. Our study compares default protections in major browsers and the impact of popular extensions. Results show that Brave offers the strongest built- in defenses, while uBlock Origin provides the most consistent reduction in tracker requests, cookies, and JavaScript events. Regional measurements across Germany, North Macedonia, and Turkey further reveal geographic variation in tracking but demonstrate that effective PETs can normalize exposure.

Keywords

Web tracking, browser fingerprinting, privacy- enhancing technologies, PETs, web measurement, tracking detection