'Stop selling or sharing my personal information': Research finds that Big Tech could be tracking you even when you've opted out

Date:
Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:05:00 +0000

Description:
Explicit requests not to be tracked are being ignored, even in US states
where such privacy matters are law.

FULL STORY
Big tech companies such as Google , Microsoft , and Meta, are
completely ignoring peoples explicit requests not to be tracked, or to have their browsing data sold to third parties. This is according to a new
forensic audit recently conducted by webXray, a search engine for analyzing internet tracking, traffic, and content.

Earlier this year, webXray published the March 2026 California Privacy Audit, in which it said that even when users explicitly invoke the Global Privacy Control (GPC), 194 online advertising services were still setting tracking cookies. GPC is a browser signal that tells websites users dont want their data sold or shared. While this is a technical standard, there are certain US laws requiring companies to honor it. For example, laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act, or the California Privacy Rights Act, have made GPC legally binding, with regulators in the country saying a valid GPC signal
must be treated as an opt-out request. According to Cybernews, GPC has legal authority in four US states as of today, and even in those territories - some companies are ignoring it entirely.



While working on the California Privacy Audit, webXray analyzed thousands of popular websites in California and found that more than half (55%) set ad cookies despite user opt-outs. Among them is Google, with a failure rate of 86%.

When a user invokes GPC, the company allegedly creates a two-year IDE advertising cookie. Microsoft, on the other hand, returns a one-year MUID tracking cookie, while Meta records tracking events regardless of the users privacy settings.

Major liability exposure

So far, none of the companies called out in the report have commented on the findings.

They soon might, however, since the reports authors believe there is grounds for a class-action lawsuit here. In fact, they project a potential aggregate liability exposure of $5.8 billion across the industry.

Via Cybernews

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/stop-selling-or-sharing-my-personal-inf ormation-research-finds-that-big-tech-could-be-tracking-you-even-when-youve-op ted-out

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