cj.dotomi.com: Conversant’s Sneaky Affiliate Tracker

Conversant’s tracker, cj.dotomi.com, watches your online shopping and browsing to fuel affiliate marketing schemes. It builds a marketing profile that invades your privacy for profit. Here’s what it does and how to fight back.

What Is cj.dotomi.com?

This domain supports CJ Affiliate, a Conversant service that tracks your interactions with affiliate links across websites. It logs your purchases and browsing to ensure advertisers pay commissions, but it also strips away your anonymity. At Privacy Auditors, we see this as a clear privacy threat.

Data It Collects

When you click affiliate links, it grabs:

• IP Address: Your digital address linked to a rough location.
• Browsing History: URLs visited, especially e-commerce sites and product pages.
• Purchase Data: Items bought, price, and transaction timestamps.
• Cookie IDs: Unique tags like ‘_dotomi’ for cross-site tracking.
• Device Fingerprint: Browser version, OS, and screen resolution.
• Ad Interactions: Clicks on ads, banners viewed, and conversion events.
• Session Duration: Time spent on pages with affiliate links.
• Referrer URL: Source of traffic, like a blog or search engine.

This data creates a detailed map of your shopping habits for exploitation.

Who Gets Your Data?

Conversant shares this with:

• CJ Affiliate network partner: For commission-based marketing.
• Third-party advertiser: For targeted ad delivery.
• Data analytics subcontractor: For processing user profiles.
• Government authority: Per legal demand, as outlined in Conversant’s privacy disclosures.

How to Protect Yourself

Privacy Auditors are here to arm you against trackers. Take these steps:

• Block Trackers: Use Privacy Auditor’s paid service to halt cj.dotomi.com scripts.
• Use a VPN: Hide your IP with Mullvad to dodge location tracking.
• Clear Cookies: Wipe tracking cookies regularly to break cross-site links.
• Browse Privately: Use Tor or Firefox with strict privacy settings.

Stack these defenses to reclaim your online privacy.

Sources

• Conversant Privacy Policy: https://www.conversantmedia.com/legal/privacy
• CJ Affiliate Documentation: https://www.cj.com/legal/privacy-policy

This is a legal disclaimer. All information is provided for educational purposes only.