Understanding the Risks of Email Tracking and How To Prevent It

What Is Email Tracking?

Did you know that there are over 160 billion email messages sent every day, and of those messages around 50% include a tracker that watches your email activity?

Email tracking is a form of surveillance that enables senders to monitor when, how, where, and what when it comes to their emails being read. Consider email trackers in the same way as you would a camera watching your physical mailbox. This camera would assess which flyers you read, the details you’re interested in, and which flyers you bin.

How Does Email Tracking Work?

There are two commonly used forms of email trackers: tracking pixels and tracking links.

Tracking pixels are tiny, pretty much invisible single-pixel images inserted into an email. When you open the message, the transparent image is loaded from the source server and sends requested information back to the sender.

Tracking links are URLs that contain tracking parameters. They are designed for marketers to track the effectiveness of their campaigns, tracking your interactions with websites over time and between apps. The tracking links you may have heard of are UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters.

As the advertiser already has your email address, they can tie all of your online activity together as soon as you click on a tracking link - significantly impacting your privacy.

Here are some simple examples of information gathered by email trackers:

• How many times the email was opened
• What device or devices were used to open the email
• What email provider was used to open the email
• Where is the recipient located when they opened the email
• Did the recipient click on any email links

Who Uses Email Tracking And Why?

You’ll find email tracking used in all corners of the business world. Commonly marketers, especially those involved in email marketing, use all forms of tracking to monitor the success of their various campaigns, including email tracking. Marketing teams use these trackers alongside strong analytics tools to analyze the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, assessing engagement and which content types deliver the best results for their audience. An example would be for an A/B testing campaign, helping the sender to understand strengths and weaknesses within an email - for example, does Subject A or Subject B lead to more email opens? Which will make the reader more likely to purchase?

Salespeople will often use an email tracking software to help them determine the warmer leads from the cool ones. It also shows them when a potential client has opened a proposal and enables them to optimize their follow-up communication. Outside of this, you’ll also find recruiters, journalists, analysts, and events managers making use of this potentially hugely invasive technology.

What Are The Risks Of Email Tracking?

While email tracking is widely used for marketing analytics and campaign optimization, there are still significant privacy concerns for recipients.

Privacy Invasion

Email tracking allows senders to gather a whole heap of information about recipients without their explicit consent. From tracking the time and location of email opens to monitoring user behavior, the system is walking a fine line when it comes to individual privacy rights.

Data Inaccuracy

The expansion of email tracking techniques increases the likelihood of data breaches and security vulnerabilities. Since tracking pixels rely on external servers to collect data, they create additional points of vulnerability that could be exploited by malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Targeted Advertising

By analyzing recipients' email engagement patterns, marketers can build detailed profiles and target them with tailored advertising campaigns. This not only compromises user privacy but also contributes to the phenomenon of online "echo chambers," where individuals are exposed to a limited range of content based on their tracked preferences.

Psychological Impact

Constant monitoring of email interactions can erode trust between senders and recipients. Moreover, the knowledge that your actions are being scrutinized can then lead to self-censorship and a reluctance to engage freely in the emails you are receiving.

Starting Point For Further Communication

Unfortunately, if a marketer, a salesperson, or whoever is at the other end of the tracking link sees you are interacting with their emails, it could then trigger an onslaught of additional, even more targeted emails that you aren’t interested in.

How Can You Prevent Email Tracking?

Unsubscribe From Newsletters You Aren’t Interested In

The first step is to reduce your risk of exposure to email tracking simply by removing the amount of emails you are receiving. By unsubscribing your account from mailing databases that are not relevant to you or that you’re not interested in, you are reducing your risk of exposure to email tracking. We recommend using a privacy-centric, third-party app like Leave Me Alone to connect all your email accounts and easily unsubscribe from your unwanted mail in one click.  Leave Me Alone also offer a Rollup service organising all your wanted newsletters into regular digests, through this service whenever an email is rolled up the tracking is also stripped out of it.

Disable Automatic Image Loading

Most tracking pixels are embedded within invisible images, so disabling automatic image loading in your email client can help combat tracking attempts. We recommend updating your email settings to either block external images by default or prompt you before loading them.

Use An Ad Blocker Or Browser Extension

By using a browser extension like Ugly Email or PixelBlock you can protect yourself from email tracking attempts.  These tools work by scanning emails for known tracking pixels and prevent them from transmitting data back to the sender.

Delete Cookies Regularly

Email trackers can use cookies to gather even more information. By clearing your cookies regularly, you are taking an additional protective step to protect yourself. There are obviously drawbacks to clearing your cookies, such as having to log back into websites after each clearing session.

Read Company Privacy Policies

We’re all guilty of blindly agreeing to privacy policies and signing up to newsletters and databases without giving them a second glance. We recommend before subscribing to a newsletter or registering with a website to read their privacy policy carefully. This will give you a more comprehensive understanding of how your email address will be used and any associated risks.

Use A VPN Service

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) do an excellent job of concealing your IP address, making it more difficult for trackers to trace your online activities. By using a reputable VPN service such as Nord VPN, you can add an extra layer of anonymity to your online presence and enhance your online privacy.

Summary

While, in today’s world, email tracking is a widespread practice helping marketers and salespeople to improve their services and customer’s experience, it is important we as email recipients understand how these technologies work and don’t lose control of our online profile. By understanding the risks posed by email tracking and implementing effective countermeasures, individuals can reclaim control over their digital interactions and safeguard their privacy in an increasingly surveilled environment.