Methods for detecting tracking elements of a web page and related server devices

1. A method, performed at a server device, for detecting tracking elements of a web page, wherein the server device is configured to control a proxy server, the method comprising:

obtaining a web page address configured to connect to a web server;

establishing a controlled communication interface between the server device and the web server via the proxy server;

transmitting, via the controlled communication interface, a web page request based on the web page address;

receiving, via the controlled communication interface, a web page response;

identifying, based on the web page response, a set of tracking tags including a first tracking tag and a second tracking tag;

deactivating all tracking tags of the set;

activating the first tracking tag; and

providing a report comprising one or more tracking attributes of a set of tracking elements, the set of tracking elements comprising tracking elements deployed by the first tracking tag.

2. The method according to claim 1 , the method comprising determining a first state listing one or more tracking elements prior to activating the first tracking tag.

3. The method according to claim 1 , the method comprising after activating the first tracking tag:

determining a second state listing the set of tracking elements deployed by the first tracking tag, and corresponding tracking attributes.

4. The method according to claim 3 , the method comprising comparing the first state and the second state.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein deactivating all the tracking tags of the set comprises:

assigning a first identifier attribute and a first source attribute to the first tracking tag; and

assigning a second identifier attribute and a second source attribute to the second tracking element.

6. The method according to claim 4 , the method comprising determining a first tracking attribute of the first tracking tag based on the comparison.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying, based on the web page response, the set of tracking tags comprise analysing a code content of the web page based on the web page response.

8. The method according to claim 1 , the method comprising:

activating the second tracking tag based on the corresponding second identifier attribute after determining the second state.

9. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the first identifier attribute comprises a first unique identifier corresponding to the first tracking tag, and the second identifier attribute comprises a second unique attribute corresponding to the second tracking tag.

10. The method according to claim 5 , wherein assigning the first source attribute comprises identifying an original external source attribute associated with the first tracking tag and replacing the original external source attribute with the first source attribute which excludes the original external source.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein activating the first tracking tag comprises re-assigning the first source attribute to the original external source attribute.

12. The method according to claim 1 , the method comprising updating the report to include one or more tracking elements associated with one or more additional tracking tags.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more tracking attributes comprise one or more of: a name attribute, an identifier attribute, a tracking type attribute, a value attribute, a code line number attribute an original external source attribute, an expiry date attribute, an attribute indicative of an IP number of a third party domain and a domain attribute.

14. A server device comprising a memory circuitry, a processor circuitry, an interface circuitry, wherein the server device is configured to perform the method according to claim 1 .

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device cause the electronic device to perform the method according to claim 1 .