I Tried This New Tool That Claims to Weed Out Privacy Violators

Tim Libert was a staff privacy engineer at Google, where he literally wrote the book on its cookie and web storage architecture. This week, Libert announced his goal to advocate for consumer privacy rights with his new program called webXray. 

The platform is meant to root out privacy violations anywhere on the web, Libert told Wired, and to find out who’s tracking you and where that tracked data is going. “I want to give privacy enforcers equal technology as privacy violators,” he said.

webXray can be used by privacy regulators, attorneys, or individual consumers to uncover privacy violations. While much of its results are behind a paywall, its revelations about just how much we’re being tracked online offers a wake-up call about privacy. And that could prompt us to take practical steps to protect ourselves by using tools like privacy-focused browsers, incognito features or even identity theft services.

Libert’s former employer’s own reputation around its use ofconsumer data has been rocky of late. Google recently announced its plan to continue using third-party cookies -- an about-face from its former plans. Now the advertising giant aims to help browsers make more-informed decisions about how they’re tracked online. 

Meanwhile, data and privacy concerns are mounting and weighing heavily on consumers’ minds. In the first half of 2024 alone,more than 1 billion people have been affected by data breaches. That’s according to new research from the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit resource for victims of identity theft.

It’s speculated that a data breach ofTicketmaster Entertainment in June, for example, compromised the personal data of 560 million customers.AT&T is also among the breached companies that are drawing public concern. The carrier recently revealed that the cybercriminals behind its breach earlier this month got their hands on “nearly all” AT&T cellular customers’ call and text records.

“You might not think that seemingly harmless data collected by apps and websites relates to data breaches,” said CNET’sBree Fowler, who’s been covering digital privacy and cybersecurity for more than a decade. “But the reality is the more cybercriminals know about you, the easier it is for them to pass themselves off as you.”

Programs like Libert’s new webXray prototype are designed to weed out privacy violations such as the data mining of your cookies or the tracking of your search behavior. The cybercriminals behind data breaches, like that of AT&T, can use collected data to craft specialized social engineering attacks via phone or email in an attempt to steal more of your personal information. This includes your Social Security number and even your bank account information.

My first impressions of webXray for consumers

webXray, launched to the public on Wednesday, gives anyone access to its basic capabilities. I tested out this free service and here is what I found.

I have two children and I know I’ve landed on pregnancy-related web pages before using the search term “pregnant.” Using the tool’s text search feature, I entered in the keyword “pregnant,” and it searched for places on the web where I’ve visited. It spit out 77 results of where my cookies are tracked -- that were unknown to me.  

After I clicked on one of the “free” results icons under “Cookie detected,” it gave more context as to the purpose of the cookie. Most of the results fell under “advertising and marketing.” 

My first impression using webXray is that it’s a good start for consumers like me to become aware of how some of our data is being tracked. It was incredibly eye-opening and alarming in terms of what it can find about my web activity. It wasn’t, however, very user-friendly. I didn’t know what to do with the results I was looking at. And since the free tool is just the demo version, you’ll need to upgrade to unlock other features. The website doesn’t list a cost, just a “get a quote” form. 

According to the webXray website, to upgrade you can choose between three versions.

• Unlocked search: to find privacy violations and export to a spreadsheet 
• Forensic edition: for large-scale privacy violation investigations
• Enterprise edition: compliance monitoring of privacy violations

How you can protect yourself from data breaches right now

Whether you’re concerned about data breaches or how your activity is tracked online, there are measures you can take to protect yourself now. You can start by weighing the benefits of signing up for an identity theft protection service. CNET ranks the best ID theft and monitoring services for you here. 

Identity theft protection services scan your personal data on the dark web and monitor your credit and bank account activity. Some of the better services will also include online security tools like VPNs and antivirus software. Should your identity be stolen, identity theft protection companies will help you restore your identity and provide insurance for costs you incur.

Adam Levin, co-host of the podcast What the Hack With Adam Levin, which addresses situations of identity theft, told CNET that people should make sure they choose an identity theft service that has white glove restoration services, so that they’re not left to fend for themselves in restoring their identity. And we agree. When we evaluated the best identity theft programs, we also looked at each offering’s resolution services, giving higher marks to the programs that offer resolution across multiple plans.

Additionally, we recommend freezing your credit reports with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian if your data has been compromised due to a data breach. Doing so is absolutely free and will prevent anyone from opening a new credit account in your name -- that includes you, but you can temporarily “thaw” your credit when you need to apply for a new credit card or loan.  

Stay tuned to CNET as we learn more about this tool and other privacy news.