vast.doubleverify.com: DoubleVerify’s Invasive Ad Tracker

The domain vast.doubleverify.com is tied to DoubleVerify, a company focused on ad verification and measurement. It tracks your interactions with online ads to build profiles for advertisers, invading your privacy in the process. Here’s a breakdown of its actions and how to guard against it.

What Is vast.doubleverify.com?

DoubleVerify uses this domain to monitor ad impressions and clicks, ensuring ads are viewed by real users and not bots. While it serves advertisers, it collects extensive data on your behavior, creating detailed profiles without your explicit permission.

Data It Collects

When you view or click an ad tied to this tracker, it logs:

• IP Address: Reveals your general location, often down to a city.
• Device ID: Identifies your device for consistent tracking across platforms.
• Ad Impressions: Logs which ads you see, with timestamps and ad IDs.
• Ad Clicks: Records when and where you click, tied to specific campaigns.
• Browser Fingerprint: Captures browser settings and plugins for unique identification.
• Cookie IDs: Uses tracking codes to follow you across sites.
• User-Agent: Details your browser and device, like ‘Safari 17.0 on macOS’.
• Page URL: Records the exact page hosting the ad.
• Referrer URL: Tracks the source that led you to the ad.
• Timestamps: Logs every interaction with precise timing.

This data paints a vivid picture of your online habits for ad targeting.

Who Gets Your Data?

DoubleVerify shares your information with:

• Advertiser: Uses data for ad verification and campaign tracking.
• Ad tech vendor: Accesses data for deeper campaign analysis.
• Third-party analytics provider: Processes data for behavioral insights.
• Cloud service provider: Like AWS, for storing your information.
• Legal authority: Complies with requests, sharing data as required.

How to Protect Yourself

Privacy Auditor is here to help you fight back against invasive tracking. Try these steps:

• Deploy Tracker Blockers: Use Privacy Auditor’s tools to block vast.doubleverify.com scripts.
• Mask with a VPN: Hide your IP with a VPN like Mullvad to disrupt location tracking.
• Choose Privacy Browsers: Use Firefox with strict protection or Tor Browser for anonymity.
• Reject Cookies: Clear or block cookies to stop cross-site tracking.
• Disable JavaScript: Use extensions like NoScript to halt tracking scripts, though functionality may suffer.

Layer these defenses for maximum privacy protection.

Sources

• DoubleVerify Privacy Policy: https://doubleverify.com/privacy-policy/
• DoubleVerify Transparency Center: https://doubleverify.com/transparency-center/

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