TrackerControl
TrackerControl aims to inform, empower, and educate users with regards to tracking in apps, that is, collection of data about user behaviour.
TrackerControl allows users to monitor and control the widespread,
ongoing, hidden data collection in mobile apps about user behaviour ('tracking').
To detect tracking, TrackerControl checks all network traffic against the Disconnect blocklist,
used and trusted by the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Additionally, our in-house blocklist is used, created from analysing ~1 000 000 apps!
This approach
- reveals the companies behind tracking,
- allows to block tracking selectively, and
- exposes the purposes of tracking, such as analytics or advertising.
The app also aims to educate about your rights under Data Protection Law, such the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Under the hood, TrackerControl uses Android's VPN functionality,
to analyse apps' network communications locally on the Android device.
This is accomplished through a local VPN server, to enable network traffic analysis by TrackerControl.
No external VPN server is used, to keep your data safe!
Download / Installation
Disclaimer: The usage of this app is at your own risk. No app can offer 100% protection against tracking.
TrackerControl can be downloaded directly from GitHub, including automatic checks for updates.
Alternatively, the app is available on F-Droid, the most popular open-source Android app store.
It is also available on the IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repository.
A feature-reduced version is also available on Google Play.
Translation
If you're missing a translation, feel free to contribute here: https://crowdin.com/project/trackercontrol.
Contact me at [email protected], if you're missing a language.
Highlights
TrackerControl provides
- real-time monitoring of app tracking,
- granular blocking of app tracking,
- one-click data requests as granted under EU Data Protection Legislation, and
- ad-blockingusing widely available host files.
Contrary to similar solutions, this application does not intercept SSL
connections, minimising privacy risks and allowing for usage on
unrooted Android devices.
Only the meta data about network communications is logged, and displayed
to the users.
Privacy notice
TrackerControl does not send any personal data off your device.
TrackerControl allows users to monitor the network communications on their
Android device.
This network data qualifies as personal data, but is only processed
locally on the user's device.
If the user consents, TrackerControl contacts the Google Play Store
to retrieve further information about the users' apps.
The app automatically contacts GitHub to check for updates,
which can be disabled from the app settings.
No personal data is ever shared, other than what is strictly
necessary for network communications (e.g. IP address).
TrackerControl uses the ACRA plugin. This is considered to be a 'good' tracker.
It's open-source, and could be used to collect crash reports automatically
to a server–TrackerControl DOES NOT do this. Instead, the user must app report crashes
manually, via e-mail. ACRA shows a dialog to do this in TrackerControl.
TrackerControl itself never sends any personal data off your device.
Cookie policy
TrackerControl does not use cookies of any kind.
The only information saved on the user's device is non-identifying
and strictly necessary for the operation of TrackerControl:
- a database of network communications, and
- user settings.
This information is kept on the user's device until app data is
removed manually by the user (e.g. by uninstalling).
