Data Donation Study For Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP)


What is Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP)?

Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) is a privacy feature designed to limit invasive web tracking. It dynamically learns trackers from your browsing history using machine learning. As browsing behavior differs from person to person, so do the identified trackers.

Why we collect data

ITP works differently for every user, as it learns from your unique browsing patterns. This personalized approach means that we cannot study it in a lab alone. By donating your anonymous data, you help us audit Safari's automated decisions that affects the privacy of millions of users worldwide.

Study Process

The data we are interested in is automatically generated by Safari. It is stored locally in a database file on your device. We process the file directly in your browser to extract the relevant insights, ensuring that your raw browsing data never leaves your device. You have full control over what is shared before confirming your donation. Any domain or information you do not wish to share can be easily removed.
The overall process takes 5-10 minutes and requires no technical knowledge. While we do not offer any compensation, your contribution helps improving web privacy for everyone.

What data do we collect?

We collect a summary of the domains Safari's ITP has observed. We do not collect your full browsing history. Instead, we extract three specific insights:

1. Observed Domains

A list of all domains Safari is currently monitoring in its database. This includes both potential trackers and regular websites you have visited.

2. User Interactions

Whether you actually used a domain. True if you clicked or interacted with it, false if it only loaded in the background without your direct action.

3. Site Connections

Which domains were loading while you were visiting others. For example, seeing that pixeltracker.co was active while you were on wikipedia.org.

How We Ensure Your Privacy

Your trust is paramount. Here are the strict measures we take to protect your privacy when you donate your ITP data:

✅ Limited Websites Only

We automatically discard any website not found in the global top 10,000 most popular sites. Niche or personal URLs are never collected.

✅ Local Processing & Full Control

All data processing happens locally in your browser. Before donation, you can review the final data and remove anything you do not wish to share.

✅ Anonymous Identifier

We assign a random identifier to your donation. This identifier cannot be linked back to your identity or person.

✅ No Personal Information

The extracted data contains no passwords, no search history, no specific page titles, and no form data.

✅ What Is Included
🌐
Domain Only
wikipedia.org
📊
ITP Classification
"Prevalent Tracker"
⛓️‍💥
Loaded Websites
[google.com, cdn-apple.com]
🕒
Last Seen
Jan 12, 2026
❌ What Is NOT Included
🔗
Full Page URL
wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_Medical_Condition
🔍
Search Queries
"how to treat..."
👤
Personal Input
Passwords, Emails, Forms

How To Locate And Donate Your Data

1. Open Finder
2. In the menu bar, click GoGo to Folder... (or press Shift + Command + G)
3. Enter the following path and press Enter:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/WebKit/WebsiteData/ResourceLoadStatistics/observations.db

4. Drag and drop the observations.db file into the area below
5. Review the extracted anonymous data and confirm your donation

📂 Drag & Drop File Here

Your file is parsed and processed entirely in your browser.
You can inspect the extracted data before donating.

Review Your Donation

Please review the extracted data below. You can delete any domains you do not wish to share.

Domains Found: 0
Domain Name Action
No domains found
Research Context (Required)
The platform from where you extracted the observations.db file.

(e.g., uBlock Origin, AdGuard, Privacy Badger, etc.)

(Please estimate your daily usage)

The search engine you use most often when searching the web.
Consent (Required)