Lesson 5 of 5
Where the data goes
The downstream market for tracking data.
4 min read
Trackers feed two pipelines: real-time bidding for ads, and data brokers who repackage profiles for marketing, fraud detection, insurance and politics. Once data leaves your browser, you have no practical way to recall it.
This is why blocking upstream, in the browser, matters more than opting out downstream.
Key takeaways
- Blocking trackers is the only practical control.
- Opt-outs and DSARs are slow and per-broker.
- Defaults beat opt-outs every time.