{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7162100861","doi":"https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2026-0039","title":"The Empire Strikes Back (at Your Privacy): An Archaeology of Tracking on Government Websites","display_name":"The Empire Strikes Back (at Your Privacy): An Archaeology of Tracking on Government Websites","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-04-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7162100861","doi":"https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2026-0039"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.56553/popets-2026-0039","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2026-0039","pdf_url":"https://petsymposium.org/popets/2026/popets-2026-0039.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210183172","display_name":"Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies","issn_l":"2299-0984","issn":["2299-0984"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320322","host_organization_name":"De Gruyter Open","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320322","https://openalex.org/P4310313990"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["De Gruyter Open","De Gruyter"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://petsymposium.org/popets/2026/popets-2026-0039.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5035358791","display_name":"Sachin Kumar Singh","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3823-6572"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I223532165","display_name":"University of Utah","ror":"https://ror.org/03r0ha626","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I223532165"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sachin Kumar Singh","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Utah"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Utah","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I223532165"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5136790584","display_name":"Faisal Mahmud","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I57206974","display_name":"New York University","ror":"https://ror.org/0190ak572","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I57206974"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Faisal Mahmud","raw_affiliation_strings":["New York University Abu Dhabi"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"New York University Abu Dhabi","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I57206974"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5112438450","display_name":"Robert Ricci","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I223532165","display_name":"University of Utah","ror":"https://ror.org/03r0ha626","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I223532165"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Robert Ricci","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Utah"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Utah","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I223532165"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5136344792","display_name":"Sandra Siby","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I57206974","display_name":"New York University","ror":"https://ror.org/0190ak572","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I57206974"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sandra Siby","raw_affiliation_strings":["New York University Abu Dhabi"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"New York University Abu Dhabi","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I57206974"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":2,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.6701223,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"2026","issue":"2","first_page":"108","last_page":"126"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11045","display_name":"Privacy, Security, and Data Protection","score":0.9121000170707703,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11045","display_name":"Privacy, Security, and Data Protection","score":0.9121000170707703,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10803","display_name":"Innovative Human-Technology Interaction","score":0.007400000002235174,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1709","display_name":"Human-Computer Interaction"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12943","display_name":"COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing","score":0.007400000002235174,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/tracking","display_name":"Tracking (education)","score":0.8098999857902527},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/government","display_name":"Government (linguistics)","score":0.7876999974250793},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/bittorrent-tracker","display_name":"BitTorrent tracker","score":0.7720000147819519},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/the-internet","display_name":"The Internet","score":0.6309000253677368},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/sovereignty","display_name":"Sovereignty","score":0.5343000292778015},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/empire","display_name":"Empire","score":0.36399999260902405},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/raising","display_name":"Raising (metalworking)","score":0.36000001430511475}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775936607","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466845","display_name":"Tracking (education)","level":2,"score":0.8098999857902527},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778137410","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2732820","display_name":"Government (linguistics)","level":2,"score":0.7876999974250793},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C57501372","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2021268","display_name":"BitTorrent tracker","level":3,"score":0.7720000147819519},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C110875604","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q75","display_name":"The Internet","level":2,"score":0.6309000253677368},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C186229450","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42008","display_name":"Sovereignty","level":3,"score":0.5343000292778015},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C108827166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q175975","display_name":"Internet privacy","level":1,"score":0.47769999504089355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C17744445","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q36442","display_name":"Political science","level":0,"score":0.4666999876499176},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778495208","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48349","display_name":"Empire","level":2,"score":0.36399999260902405},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780589192","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7285140","display_name":"Raising (metalworking)","level":2,"score":0.36000001430511475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C170007233","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q211017","display_name":"E-Government","level":3,"score":0.34470000863075256},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154586513","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4420972","display_name":"Tracking system","level":3,"score":0.34439998865127563},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C144133560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4830453","display_name":"Business","level":0,"score":0.33059999346733093},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C109986646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q546113","display_name":"Public policy","level":2,"score":0.313400000333786},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C3020672099","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q857354","display_name":"Longitudinal data","level":2,"score":0.3111000061035156},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C198477413","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7647069","display_name":"Survey data collection","level":2,"score":0.2953000068664551},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C83849155","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1472399","display_name":"Internet access","level":3,"score":0.2711000144481659},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C56461940","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q970687","display_name":"Eye tracking","level":2,"score":0.26969999074935913},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.2635999917984009},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2985272809","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q211017","display_name":"Digital government","level":3,"score":0.2517000138759613}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.56553/popets-2026-0039","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2026-0039","pdf_url":"https://petsymposium.org/popets/2026/popets-2026-0039.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210183172","display_name":"Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies","issn_l":"2299-0984","issn":["2299-0984"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320322","host_organization_name":"De Gruyter Open","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320322","https://openalex.org/P4310313990"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["De Gruyter Open","De Gruyter"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.56553/popets-2026-0039","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2026-0039","pdf_url":"https://petsymposium.org/popets/2026/popets-2026-0039.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210183172","display_name":"Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies","issn_l":"2299-0984","issn":["2299-0984"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320322","host_organization_name":"De Gruyter Open","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320322","https://openalex.org/P4310313990"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["De Gruyter Open","De Gruyter"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Peace, Justice and strong institutions","id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/16","score":0.7772994637489319}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7162100861.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7162100861.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Citizens":[0],"rely":[1],"on":[2,21,38,74,148],"government":[3,39,78],"websites":[4,14,40],"for":[5,140],"a":[6,29,93,99],"wide":[7],"array":[8],"of":[9,33,76,102],"essential":[10,133],"services.":[11,87,134],"However,":[12],"these":[13],"may":[15],"embed":[16],"third-party":[17,71],"trackers,":[18],"raising":[19],"questions":[20],"privacy,":[22],"security,":[23],"and":[24,36,47,113,128,145],"data":[25,146],"sovereignty.":[26],"We":[27,59,105],"conduct":[28],"large-scale":[30],"longitudinal":[31],"study":[32,43],"tracker":[34,111],"adoption":[35,112],"evolution":[37],"worldwide.":[41],"Our":[42,135],"spans":[44],"61":[45],"countries":[46],"nearly":[48],"three":[49],"decades":[50],"(1996-2025),":[51],"using":[52],"historical":[53],"snapshots":[54],"from":[55,65],"the":[56,121,138],"Internet":[57],"Archive.":[58],"find":[60,107],"that":[61,118],"tracking":[62,89],"has":[63],"shifted":[64],"rare":[66],"to":[67,126,142],"routine:":[68],"by":[69,84,92],"2025,":[70],"trackers":[72],"appear":[73],"50%":[75],"studied":[77],"websites,":[79],"with":[80,98],"growth":[81],"overwhelmingly":[82],"driven":[83],"external":[85],"(third-party)":[86],"This":[88],"is":[90],"dominated":[91],"few":[94],"large":[95],"US-based":[96],"organizations,":[97],"long":[100],"tail":[101],"lesser-known":[103],"players.":[104],"also":[106],"great":[108],"heterogeneity":[109],"in":[110],"presence":[114],"across":[115],"regions,":[116],"indicating":[117],"users":[119],"around":[120],"world":[122],"have":[123],"differing":[124],"exposure":[125],"privacy":[127,144],"security":[129],"issues":[130],"when":[131],"accessing":[132],"findings":[136],"highlight":[137],"need":[139],"approaches":[141],"improve":[143],"sovereignty":[147],"public-service":[149],"platforms.":[150]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-05-24T06:10:38.904174","created_date":"2026-05-23T00:00:00"}
