platform-cdn.sharethis.com: ShareThis’s Invasive Sharing Tracking

ShareThis’s tracker, platform-cdn.sharethis.com, watches your sharing and browsing activity across websites, collecting data to profile your social interactions for analytics and ads. This invades your privacy by logging your sharing behavior. Here’s what it does and how to resist.

What Is platform-cdn.sharethis.com?

This domain belongs to ShareThis, a social sharing widget provider for websites. It tracks user behavior around sharing buttons to analyze social trends and target ads, compromising your privacy. As Privacy Auditors, we’re concerned about its data collection scope.

Data It Collects

When you interact with ShareThis widgets, it captures:

• IP Address: Your network location, tied to physical addresses.
• Browsing History: URLs visited and content shared.
• Geolocation: Lat/long derived from IP for regional targeting.
• Device ID: Unique identifiers for cross-site tracking.
• User Behavior: Shares, clicks on social widgets, with timestamps.
• Cookie IDs: Persistent trackers like stid for profiling.
• Browser Type: Chrome or Firefox, with version details.
• Operating System: Windows or Android, including builds.
• Page URL: Full path of pages with ShareThis widgets.
• Timestamps: Precise timing of sharing interactions.

This builds a detailed profile of your social activity.

Who Gets Your Data?

ShareThis shares your information with:

• ShareThis internal system for social analytics and ads.
• Third-party advertiser for targeted campaigns.
• Analytics subcontractor processing sharing data.
• Government authority upon legal request, per compliance policies.

How to Protect Yourself

As Privacy Auditors, we suggest these steps to block ShareThis:

• Use Tracker Blockers: Tools like Privacy Auditor can disable platform-cdn.sharethis.com scripts.
• Mask IP: Use a VPN like Mullvad to hide your location.
• Clear Cookies: Delete sharing cookies regularly to stop profiling.
• Avoid Widgets: Refrain from using social sharing buttons.

Combine these for better privacy.

Sources

• ShareThis Privacy Policy: https://sharethis.com/privacy/

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