Take back control of what gets collected about you
We document how tracking works in forensic detail — which means we can also show you, accurately, how to stop it. This is the practical, regularly-updated playbook for blocking trackers in your browser, on your network, and at the consent layer. No fear-mongering, no affiliate-driven nonsense — just what works in 2026.
Tracking isn’t inherently evil — careless, non-consensual tracking is. So this section does two things at once: it helps you defend yourself, and it names the analytics tools that measure responsibly without harvesting your identity. See the Privacy Scorecard.
Four layers of defense
No single tool is enough. Each layer catches what the others miss; stacked, they remove the large majority of tracking. Start at the top.
In the browser
Pick a browser that blocks by default, then turn on the settings that matter — tracking protection, partitioned storage, and the Global Privacy Control signal.
02With extensions
Content blockers and consent automators. What still works after Manifest V3, what got quietly defanged, and the honest tradeoffs.
03On the network
DNS filtering, encrypted DNS, and VPNs — device-wide and household-wide protection, plus what each actually hides.
04Consent & your rights
How consent banners and Consent Mode work, why GPC is now legally binding in much of the US, and how to exercise opt-out and deletion rights.
Start here
The model behind tracking prevention.Browsers
The highest-leverage layer — lock down the engine.Harden Firefox for Privacy
Enhanced Tracking Protection (strict), Total Cookie Protection, encrypted DNS, URL-parameter stripping, containers, and the about:config keys that matter.
Chrome, Brave, and Edge: the Chromium Privacy Reality
Why Chrome's Privacy Sandbox is not the same as blocking tracking, why Brave is the strongest Chromium option, and how to lock down Edge.
Safari and iOS Privacy
Intelligent Tracking Prevention, App Tracking Transparency, and the iOS settings that limit cross-app and cross-site tracking.
Extensions
Cover the long tail the browser allows through.Network & DNS
Protect every device on your network.Consent & signals
The opt-outs that carry legal weight.Not all tracking is equal
The scorecard grades the tools sites use to collect your data.If you run a website, you can measure visitors without betraying them. We grade analytics, advertising, and session-replay tools on data minimization, consent honoring, identifier strategy, residency, and transparency. Choose the green ones; understand exactly what the red ones do.
Fathom Analytics, Plausible Analytics, GoatCounter, Matomo, Simple Analytics, Pirsch Analytics — cookieless, no personal data, often no consent banner required.
Google Ads & Floodlight, Meta Pixel & Conversions API, Microsoft Clarity, TikTok Pixel & Events API — built to ship your behavior and identifiers to ad platforms, often server-side.
Inspect before you trust
Want to know what a specific site is doing right now? The free Beacon Decoder and Pixel & Tag Scanner show the actual requests and tags a page fires. For a full, dated audit of a site’s tracking, cookies, and data collection — the kind you can hand to a legal or privacy team — that’s what ad.rip is for.
Get tracking-prevention changes in your inbox
Browser blocking rules, new privacy regulations, and which analytics tools changed their data handling — every week.
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