Ideas worth spreading

Tracking our online trackers

2,302,682 views | Gary Kovacs • TED2012

As you surf the Web, information is being collected about you. Web tracking is not 100% evil -- personal data can make your browsing more efficient; cookies can help your favorite websites stay in business. But, says Gary Kovacs, it's your right to know what data is being collected about you. He unveils a Firefox add-on, Collusion, to do just that. (Update: Collusion is now called Lightbeam.)

As you surf the Web, information is being collected about you. Web tracking is not 100% evil -- personal data can make your browsing more efficient; cookies can help your favorite websites stay in business. But, says Gary Kovacs, it's your right to know what data is being collected about you. He unveils a Firefox add-on, Collusion, to do just that. (Update: Collusion is now called Lightbeam.)

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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Gary Kovacs is a technologist and the former CEO of the Mozilla Corporation, where he directed the development of Firefox.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.