Lightbeam is a Firefox add-on. It uses interactive visualizations to show you the first and third party sites you interact with on the Web. As you browse, Lightbeam reveals the full depth of the Web today. Reveals parts that are not transparent to the average user.

2. Shine a Light on
Who’s Watching You

3. See Who’s Tracking You Online
• Lightbeam is a Firefox add-on.
• It uses interactive visualizations to show you
the first and third party sites you interact with
on the Web.
• As you browse, Lightbeam reveals the full
depth of the Web today.
• Reveals parts that are not transparent to the
average user.

5. How Lightbeam Works
Download and run the Lightbeam
add-on in your Firefox browser.
Lightbeam will create a record of
events for every site you visit and
every third party site that is
stored locally on your browser.

6. How Lightbeam Works
Lightbeam visually graphs these
events to highlight the interactions
between sites you intentionally
visit and the third parties.
Lightbeam will continue to add to
your graph as you browse the
Web.

7. Tracking & privacy
• Not all tracking is bad.
• Many services rely on user data to provide relevant
content and enhance your online experience.
• But tracking can happen without the user’s
knowledge. That’s not okay for some.
• It should be you who decides when and how your
browsing data to be shared.
We recognize the importance of transparency and our mission is
all about empowering users — both with tools and information.

8. How the add-on works
Lightbeam visualizes the relationships between the
sites you visit and the third party sites that are active
on those pages.

9. Visited Sites
Third Party Sites

10. How the add-on works
• Using three distinct interactive graphic
representations :
– Graph, Clock and List
• Lightbeam enables you to examine individual
third parties over time and space.
• Identify where they connect to your online
activity.
• It provides ways for you to engage with this
unique view of the Web.

11. Graph View

12. Graph View
• The default Graph view provides a real time
visualization of every site you visit and all third
party requests made from your browser.
• The Graph view also provides adjustable filters
that allow you to visualize more types of data
at a glance.

13. Clock View

14. Clock View
• The Clock view allows you to examine
connections over a 24-hour period.

15. List View

16. List View
• The List view provides more options for
drilling down into individual sites.
• Site preferences in the List view enable you to
– Block sites from connecting to your Firefox
browser.
– Watch sites you’re interested in.
– Hide sites you don’t want to see visualized.

17. Information Panel
• Lightbeam also offers an
information panel that
provides additional details
about the site you selected
and the sites it has
connected to.

18. Three Simple Steps
Visualize your data:
After you download and install the
Lightbeam add-on to Firefox, it will begin
to create a real time visualization of the
websites you visit and all the third parties
that are also active on those pages.

19. Analyze your connections
As your visualizations grow, you can take
a closer look into the relationships
between the various first and third party
sites that are stored in your data. You can
also reset or save your data at any time.
Contribute your data
As a part of Lightbeam, we are creating a
big-picture view of Internet tracking and
of how first and third party sites are
connected. To help us, you can contribute
your data to our Lightbeam database.

20. The Origins Of Lightbeam
• Lightbeam began in July 2011 as Collusion, a personal project
by Mozilla software developer Atul Varma.
• Inspired by the book, The Filter Bubble.
• Atul created an experimental add-on to visualize browsing
behaviour and data collection on the Web.
• In February 2012, Gary Kovacs, Mozilla CEO at the
time, introduced the Collusion add-on in a TED talk about
exposing online tracking.

21. The Origins Of Lightbeam
• In September 2012, Mozilla joined forces with students at Emily
Carr University of Art + Design to develop and implement
visualizations for the add-on.
• With the support of the Ford Foundation and the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Collusion
has been re-imagined as Lightbeam and was launched in the fall
of 2013.

22. Why Lightbeam?
• At Mozilla, we believe that everyone should have the tools to
make their own decisions about their online privacy and who
collects data on them.
• With the Lightbeam add-on and database server, we are
providing a valuable (and open) community research platform
that aims to
– Raise awareness
– Promote analysis
– Affect policy change in the areas of tracking and privacy.
• Lightbeam is one step in a larger, concerted effort by Mozilla
and its partners to provide Web users with greater control and
transparency of their personal data.

23. Queries?

24. Thank You
@umesh_agarwal1
https://reps.mozilla.org/u/umesh/
https://fosswithumesh.wordpress.com
umesh.agarwal1@gmail.com
Irc Nick - umesh