<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
privacy	O
and	O
security-related	O
browser	B-Protocol
extension	I-Protocol
and	O
mobile	O
browser	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
February	O
2017	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
owned	O
by	O
the	O
German	O
company	O
Cliqz	B-Operating_System
International	I-Operating_System
GmbH	I-Operating_System
(	O
formerly	O
owned	O
by	O
Evidon	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
previously	O
called	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
and	O
the	O
Better	O
Advertising	O
Project	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
enables	O
its	O
users	O
to	O
detect	O
and	O
control	O
JavaScript	B-Language
"	O
tags	B-Protocol
"	O
and	O
"	O
trackers	O
"	O
to	O
remove	O
JavaScript	B-Language
bugs	O
and	O
beacons	B-Protocol
that	O
are	O
embedded	O
in	O
many	O
web	O
pages	O
which	O
allow	O
for	O
the	O
collection	O
of	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
browsing	O
habits	O
via	O
HTTP	B-Application
cookies	I-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
participating	O
in	O
more	O
sophisticated	O
forms	O
of	O
tracking	O
such	O
as	O
canvas	B-Protocol
fingerprinting	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2017	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
is	O
available	O
for	O
Mozilla	B-Application
Firefox	I-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
,	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Edge	I-Application
,	O
Opera	B-Application
,	O
Safari	B-Application
,	O
iOS	B-Application
,	O
Android	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Firefox	B-Application
for	I-Application
Android	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
's	O
privacy	O
team	O
creates	O
profiles	O
of	O
page	O
elements	O
and	O
companies	O
for	O
educational	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
blocks	O
HTTP	O
requests	O
and	O
redirects	O
according	O
to	O
their	O
source	O
address	O
in	O
several	O
ways	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Blocking	O
third-party	O
tracking	O
scripts	O
that	O
are	O
used	O
by	O
websites	O
to	O
collect	O
data	O
on	O
user	O
behavior	O
for	O
advertising	O
,	O
marketing	O
,	O
site	O
optimization	O
,	O
and	O
security	B-Application
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
scripts	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
tags	B-Protocol
"	O
or	O
"	O
trackers	O
"	O
,	O
are	O
the	O
underlying	O
technology	O
that	O
places	O
tracking	O
cookies	B-Application
on	O
consumers	O
 '	O
browsers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
tracker	O
is	O
blocked	O
,	O
any	O
cookie	B-Application
that	O
the	O
tracker	O
has	O
placed	O
is	O
not	O
accessible	O
to	O
anyone	O
but	O
the	O
user	O
and	O
thus	O
cannot	O
be	O
read	O
when	O
called	O
upon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
reports	O
all	O
tracking	O
packages	O
detected	O
,	O
and	O
whether	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
has	O
blocked	O
them	O
or	O
not	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
"	O
findings	O
window	O
"	O
accessible	O
from	O
clicking	O
on	O
the	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
Icon	O
in	O
the	O
browser	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
configured	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
also	O
displays	O
the	O
list	O
of	O
trackers	O
present	O
on	O
the	O
page	O
in	O
a	O
temporary	O
purple	O
overlay	O
box	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
developed	O
by	O
David	O
Cancel	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Evidon	O
(	O
renamed	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
)	O
in	O
January	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
is	O
among	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
browser	B-Protocol
extensions	I-Protocol
for	O
privacy	O
protection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
Edward	O
Snowden	O
suggested	O
consumers	O
use	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
along	O
with	O
other	O
tools	O
to	O
protect	O
their	O
online	O
privacy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
made	O
their	O
software	O
source	O
code	O
open	O
for	O
review	O
in	O
2010	O
,	O
but	O
did	O
not	O
release	O
further	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
after	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
February	O
22	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
released	O
the	O
EULA	O
for	O
the	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
browser	B-Protocol
extension	I-Protocol
,	O
as	O
a	O
proprietary	O
closed-source	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cliqz	B-Operating_System
GmbH	I-Operating_System
acquired	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
from	O
Evidon	O
Inc	O
.	O
in	O
February	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cliqz	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
German	O
company	O
majority-owned	O
by	O
Hubert	O
Burda	O
Media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
no	O
longer	O
shares	O
data	O
of	O
any	O
kind	O
with	O
Evidon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
8	O
,	O
2018	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
shifted	O
back	O
to	O
an	O
open	O
source	O
development	O
model	O
and	O
published	O
their	O
source	O
code	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
saying	O
that	O
this	O
would	O
allow	O
third-party	O
contributions	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
make	O
the	O
software	O
more	O
transparent	O
in	O
its	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2018	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
distribution	O
of	O
an	O
email	O
promoting	O
changes	O
to	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
's	O
practices	O
to	O
comply	O
with	O
General	O
Data	O
Protection	O
Regulation	O
(	O
GDPR	O
)	O
,	O
hundreds	O
of	O
user	O
email	O
addresses	O
were	O
accidentally	O
leaked	O
by	O
listing	O
them	O
as	O
recipients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
apologized	O
for	O
the	O
incident	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
they	O
stopped	O
the	O
distribution	O
of	O
the	O
email	O
when	O
they	O
noticed	O
the	O
error	O
,	O
and	O
reported	O
that	O
this	O
was	O
caused	O
by	O
a	O
new	O
in-house	O
email	O
system	O
that	O
accidentally	O
sent	O
the	O
message	O
as	O
a	O
single	O
email	O
to	O
many	O
recipients	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
sending	O
it	O
individually	O
to	O
each	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
its	O
former	O
owner	O
Evidon	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
had	O
an	O
opt-in	O
feature	O
called	O
GhostRank	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
GhostRank	B-Operating_System
took	O
note	O
of	O
ads	O
encountered	O
and	O
blocked	O
,	O
then	O
sent	O
that	O
information	O
back	O
to	O
advertisers	O
who	O
could	O
then	O
use	O
that	O
data	O
to	O
change	O
their	O
ads	O
to	O
avoid	O
further	O
being	O
blocked	O
;	O
although	O
this	O
feature	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
incentivize	O
advertisers	O
to	O
create	O
less	O
intrusive	O
ads	O
and	O
thus	O
a	O
better	O
web	O
experience	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
can	O
just	O
as	O
easily	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
more	O
malicious	O
ads	O
that	O
escape	O
detection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jonathan	O
Mayer	O
,	O
a	O
Stanford	O
graduate	O
student	O
and	O
privacy	O
advocate	O
,	O
has	O
said	O
:	O
"	O
Evidon	O
has	O
a	O
financial	O
incentive	O
to	O
encourage	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
adoption	O
and	O
discourage	O
alternatives	O
like	O
Do	B-Protocol
Not	I-Protocol
Track	I-Protocol
and	O
cookie	B-Application
blocking	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
to	O
maintain	O
positive	O
relationships	O
with	O
intrusive	O
advertising	O
companies	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
July	O
2018	O
,	O
with	O
version	O
8.2	O
,	O
Ghostery	B-Operating_System
shows	O
advertisements	O
of	O
its	O
own	O
to	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
