Email Tracker Detector
Find out who is tracking an email you received: hidden pixels, redirect-wrapped links and identifier tokens, matched against 40 named tracking services — analyzed entirely in your browser.
Features
Identifies trackers by name against a signature list of 40 real services, grouped into four categories
Detects hidden pixels in any form: 1×1 or zero-size images, CSS-hidden images, and known open-tracking paths
Unwraps redirect-wrapped links and shows each link's claimed URL next to its true destination
Separates tokens that identify you personally from campaign-level analytics tags
0–100 privacy score with every deduction itemized, plus a copyable plain-text report
Accepts pasted HTML or an uploaded .eml file — decoded and analyzed locally, never uploaded or rendered
How to Use
Copy the email's raw source (in most mail apps: menu → "Show original" or "View source")
Paste it here, or upload the message as a .eml file
Click "Scan for Trackers" — analysis is instant and local
Read the named services, pixels, identifiers and link-by-link breakdown
Follow the blocking steps for your mail app, and copy the report if you need it
Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I tell if an email I received is tracking me?
- Look at the raw source. Tracking shows up as tiny or hidden images pointing at logging servers, links that route through a redirect domain instead of going straight to the destination, and long identifier tokens in URLs. This tool finds all three and names the service when the infrastructure matches a known signature.
- What information does a tracking pixel collect about me?
- When your mail client loads the unique invisible image, the sender's server logs that you opened the message, the exact time and how many times, your IP address (which reveals your approximate city), and your device or mail client from the User-Agent string.
- Does opening an email reveal my location to the sender?
- It can. Loading a tracking pixel exposes your IP address, which maps to a rough city-level location. Gmail proxies images through Google's servers, which hides your IP — but the open event still registers unless you turn off automatic image loading. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection pre-loads images through relays, masking both.
- How do I block tracking pixels in Gmail or Outlook?
- Gmail: Settings → See all settings → General → Images → "Ask before displaying external images". Outlook: File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings → Automatic Download → block pictures in standard email. Proton Mail blocks known pixels by default, and DuckDuckGo Email Protection and Firefox Relay strip trackers from forwarded mail.
- Are email tracking pixels legal?
- Generally yes, though EU ePrivacy and GDPR guidance treats them as requiring consent or at least clear disclosure — which is why EU newsletters mention open tracking in their privacy text. Legal or not, you can block them with the settings above, or give untrusted senders a disposable address instead.
- How common is email tracking?
- Very. Proton cites HEY's analysis that roughly two-thirds of the 1,000,000 messages HEY processed daily contained spy pixels. Marketing and sales mail is tracked nearly by default; personal mail rarely is. One honest caveat: a fully custom self-hosted tracker can evade naming, though the hidden-pixel and redirect heuristics here still catch the technique.
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