Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit

· Apr 14, 2026 at 9:13 AM

“This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”

Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit — Photo by Marija Zaric / Unsplash

An independent privacy audit of Microsoft, Meta, and Google web traffic in California found that the companies may be violating state regulations and racking up billions in fines. According to the audit from privacy search engine webXray, 55 percent of the sites it checked set ad cookies in a user’s browser even if they opted out of tracking. Each company disputed or took issue with the research, with Google saying it was based on a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how its product works.