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They're Tracking What We Do

#meta#web#analytics#privacy#umami

Ever noticed that Tiktok is tracking you? You search for something and then all of a sudden every reel on you FYP, every recommendation, every thought and ad becomes too relatable or suited to you.

It's not paranoia. They are watching.

But here's the thing: there's watching, and then there's watching. And the difference matters more than the privacy blogs want you to think.

What "tracking" actually is

When I say I have analytics on this site, I don't mean I know your name, your IP, your shoe size, or that you searched Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire. I mean I know:

  • How many people visited a page
  • What browser they used (roughly)
  • What link they clicked to get here
  • Whether they found what they were looking for (search queries on the blog)
  • The rest i will leave up to you to figure out

That's it. No cookies. No fingerprinting. No profiles.

Umami — the tool I use — doesn't even collect enough data to require a cookie banner . It's lightweight, open source, and runs on my own domain so it doesn't get blocked by adblockers so you cant dodge it.

The hypocrisy

Okay cool, the hypocrisy.

I care about privacy. I use Firefox. I run uBlock Origin. I've told people to stop using Google Chrome, I got a friend that just uses Brave Browser. I am, in every sense, someone who loves privacy.

And I also put tracking software on my website.

At the time I had no defence Here's my defence: the data isn't for them, it's for me. I don't sell it, I don't share it, I don't even look at it that often. But when I do, it tells me useful things:

  • "Nobody is reading this post" → either the title doesn't grab or the content misses
  • "Everyone bounces on this page" → something is broken or confusing
  • "People keep searching for X" → X is something I should write about

Without analytics, I'm flying blind. I could write 50 posts and have no idea if any of them land. That's not humility, that's negligence. I'm basically asking for your time and then not even checking if I'm wasting it.

The PostHog detour

I started with PostHog. It's powerful — session replays, feature flags, heatmaps, etc. If I were building a SaaS product, I'd use it in a heartbeat.

But this isn't a SaaS product. It's my portfolio with a blog. And having session replays of people scrolling through my about page felt... invasive. I felt like the guy she gets the ick from when he says "I watch anime". Btw I do watch anime.

So I ripped it out.

I replaced it with Umami. One script, zero cookies, a dashboard that shows me exactly what I need to know and nothing else. It runs on my own domain so adblockers can stop me. It's open source. It costs nothing.

I dropped a 22 event tracking system down to 7 events being tracked and I felt better.

This is the part where I admit I'm still tracking you

I am. Just... politely. I'm the manager at Doppio Zero that secretly comes to your table and tells you he's your waiter that afternoon, not the guy without a life.

Here's what I actually track on this site right now:

  • What blog posts you read — so I know what to write more of
  • What you search for (in the blog search) — so I know what's missing
  • If you reach out — so I know the contact form works
  • If something breaks — so I can fix it
  • If you click a link to my GitHub or LinkedIn — so I know what's driving interest

That's the list. I could track more. I don't want to.

And honestly? If this makes you uncomfortable, you're probably already running an adblocker that blocks it anyway. Problem solved.

Off to touch grass.

PS: I'm watching you.

(Just... from across the room... Respectfully... With a nice dashboard.)