Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 18 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
94/100
The Markup's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Since 2020, readers have used Blacklight, our pioneering website privacy inspector tool, to run more than 18 million scans.
asserted
readers → use → scans
Previously, Blacklight detected tracking pixels from Google and Meta.
asserted
Blacklight → detect → Google
Today, we’re announcing that it can scan for two more digital trackers: TikTok and X pixels.
asserted
it → announce → trackers
A tracking pixel is a small piece of code added to a website that sends information about the site’s users to the platform that operates the pixel.
asserted
that → track → pixel
That can include details of a user’s activities, such as their browsing activity, purchases and searches.
asserted
That → include → activity
A website that embeds a pixel often does so to inform its advertising campaigns on the platform that create the pixel.
asserted
that → embed → pixel
When its pixel is embedded across many websites, the platform can compile a user’s data to build a detailed profile of their interests, behavior and other personal information.
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platform → embed → interests
These profiles allow other businesses to buy ads from the platform to target categories of users — though this data can also be used for other purposes.
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data → allow → purposes
When you look up a website in Blacklight, it will now report if it finds the TikTok pixel or X pixel.
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it → look → pixel
More detailed information about the specific data being passed through pixels is also available by clicking on “Learn more” in the top right of the results, then clicking the link to “download an archive.”
asserted
information → pass → archive
To develop these new features, we partnered with a group of computer science students in Brandeis University’s Capstone in Software Engineering course.
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we → develop → course
These students – Yiyou “Felix” Fan, Jiawen “Zena” Hu, Hengye Li, Hongchen “Steven” Yang and Yiquan “Frank” Zhang – researched and developed the features with the support of our product team.
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students → research → team
Blacklight’s pixel detection features have already powered our Pixel Hunt investigations, which revealed that sensitive personal user information was being shared from government websites with Meta and Google, leading to lawsuits, removal of pixels from sites and increased government scrutiny.
asserted
information → power → sites
These new features give a fuller picture of the digital privacy landscape by exposing tracking pixels from two more companies.
asserted
features → give → companies
We hope these new features will help you better understand what happens to your data as you navigate the internet.
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you → hope → internet
While Blacklight can’t say exactly what companies like TikTok and X do with our data, it can provide a starting point for deeper investigation into how that data is stored, shared and used across the web.
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data → say → web
Do you have questions, suggestions or need help understanding your Blacklight results?
asserted
you → have → results
You can always reach us at blacklight@themarkup.org.
asserted
You → reach → blacklight@themarkup.org
The Aporia
