I Tried a New Tool That Supposedly Removes Privacy Violators

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

The platform aims to root out privacy violations anywhere online, Libert told Wired, and find out who’s tracking you and where that tracking data goes. “I want to give privacy enforcers equal technology to privacy invaders,” he said.

webXray can be used by privacy regulators, lawyers, or individual consumers to detect privacy violations. While most of its results are available for a fee, its revelations about how much we are being tracked online are a wake-up call about privacy. And it can prompt us to take practical steps to protect ourselves by using tools like privacy-focused browsers, incognito features, and even identity theft services.

Libert’s former employer’s reputation for using consumer data has been rocky of late. Google recently announced its plan to continue using third-party cookies — a 180-degree turnaround from its previous plans. Now, the advertising giant aims to help browsers make more informed decisions about how to track their online activities.

Meanwhile, concerns about data and privacy are growing and weighing heavily on consumers’ minds. More than 1 billion people suffered data breaches in the first half of 2024 alone, according to new research from the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for victims of identity theft.

The Ticketmaster Entertainment data breach in June, for example, is speculated to have compromised the personal information of 560 million customers. AT&T is also one of the breached companies that has sparked public concern. The carrier recently revealed that cybercriminals behind the breach earlier this month had obtained “nearly all” of AT&T’s mobile customer call and text message records.

“You might not think that seemingly harmless data collected by apps and websites is linked to data breaches,” said CNET’s Bree Fowler, who has covered digital privacy and cybersecurity for more than a decade. “But the reality is that the more cybercriminals know about you, the easier it is for them to impersonate you.”

Programs like Libert’s new webXray prototype are designed to eliminate privacy violations like cookie data mining or tracking your browsing behavior. Cybercriminals behind data breaches like AT&T’s can use the data they collect to create specialized social engineering attacks via phone or email to steal more of your personal information. That includes your Social Security number and even your bank account information.

My First Impressions of WebXray for Consumers

webXray, which launched publicly on Wednesday, gives anyone access to its basic capabilities. I tested the free service and here’s what I found.

I have two kids, and I know I’ve hit pregnancy-related websites before I even used the search term “pregnant.” Using the tool’s text search feature, I typed in the keyword “pregnant,” and it searched the places I’d visited online. It spit out 77 results that tracked my cookies—which I didn’t know about.

Clicking on one of the “free” result icons under “Cookie Detected” gave me more context about the cookie’s purpose. Most of the results fell into the “advertising and marketing” category.

My first impression after 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 could find about my online activity. However, it wasn’t very user-friendly. I didn’t know what to do with the results I was viewing. And since the free tool is only a demo, you’ll need to upgrade to unlock other features. The website doesn’t list the cost, just a “get a quote” form.

According to the webXray website, you can choose from one of three versions to upgrade.

• Unlocked Search: to find privacy violations and export them to a spreadsheet
• Forensic Edition: Investigations into large-scale privacy breaches
• Enterprise Edition: privacy violation compliance monitoring

How You Can Protect Yourself from Data Breaches Now

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

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

Adam Levin, co-host of the identity theft podcast What the Hack With Adam Levin, told CNET that people should make sure they choose an identity theft protection service that offers white-glove identity restoration services so they don’t have to go it alone to restore their identity. And we agree. When we evaluated the best identity theft protection programs, we also looked at each offering’s troubleshooting services, giving higher marks to programs that offer a solution as part of multiple plans.

We also recommend freezing your credit reports with Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian if your information has been compromised in a data breach. This is completely free and will prevent anyone from opening a new credit account in your name — that includes you, but you can temporarily “unfreeze” your credit if you need to apply for a new credit card or loan.

Stay tuned to CNET for more on this tool and other privacy news.