Over half of G20 government websites have tracking cookies TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Over half of G20 government websites have tracking cookies By Sead Fadilpašić published 7 July 2022 Government sites filled will tracking cookies (Image credit: Shutterstock / Crystal Eye Studio) Audio player loading… Many government websites, including those under GDPR's wing, are filled with third-party tracking cookies, new research has found. Spanish research center IMDEA recently analyzed more than 5,500 government websites belonging to G20 countries, and found that 90% allowed their visitors to be tracked across the web. What's more, more than half of cookies on those websites belong to third parties, meaning they were most likely placed there to harvest visitor data, the report states. In some cases, as many as 90% came from known third-party trackers. Surveillance or sloppiness These websites should not serve cookies at all, IMDEA argues. Not only does that ruin any trust people might have in their governments, but it also allows for "large-scale surveillance, monitoring, and tracking. If this takes place from third parties it is worrisome as it shows bad website design that relies on external entities that can monitor interactions [between] the public [and] the government," the organization said. "It seems that despite great efforts to promote regulations like GDPR, governmental sites themselves are not yet clear of tracking practices targeted by such regulations." The source of these tracking cookies, IMDEA explains, is multimedia content from social networks and other platforms embedded in the sites.Read more> Half of Americans accept all cookies despite the security risk (opens in new tab) > Google rolls out less confusing cookie pop-ups after EU intervention (opens in new tab) > Best identity theft protection of 2022 (opens in new tab) "Many of these trackers are added because many government sites include links to social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn and link videos hosted on YouTube or Vimeo," IMDEA said. Japan and India were among the nations with the fewest cookies, but even in these countries, almost 80% of government sites served them. Russia was the worst, when it comes to third-party tracking cookies, with more than 90% of the sites having either one or both types. Web designers building government sites "need to take extra care to avoid including plugins for social media, commercial video portals, publishers and avoiding links that download content from such websites," the organization concluded. The news comes at a time of heightened awareness around privacy issues among consumers. VPN (opens in new tab) and proxy services have never been more popular, as people look to shield their browsing activity from prying eyes.To keep your digital work private, use one of the best privacy tools (opens in new tab) around Via The Register (opens in new tab) Sead Fadilpašić Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he's written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He's also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications. See more Computing news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie3Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago4RTX 4090 too expensive? Nvidia resurrects another old favorite5More than one million credit card details leaked online1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip3If this feature succeeds for Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft can't ignore it4Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month5The Rings of Power episode 8 trailer feels like one big Sauron misdirect Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)