Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Blacklight by The Markup VS ToS;DR

Compare Blacklight by The Markup VS ToS;DR and see what are their differences

Blacklight by The Markup logo Blacklight by The Markup

A one-of-a-kind, real-time website privacy inspection tool

ToS;DR logo ToS;DR

Ratings of website terms & privacy policies
  • Blacklight by The Markup Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04
  • ToS;DR Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17

Blacklight by The Markup features and specs

  • Privacy Insight
    Blacklight provides users with valuable insights into how websites track their activities, helping to promote awareness about online privacy.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The tool features an easy-to-use interface that allows users to analyze websites without any technical expertise.
  • Comprehensive Analysis
    Blacklight conducts a variety of privacy-focused tests to give a comprehensive overview of potential tracking mechanisms in place on websites.
  • Transparency Promotion
    By shedding light on tracking practices, Blacklight encourages websites to be more transparent and accountable about data collection.
  • Free Access
    The tool is freely accessible, making it a readily available resource for anyone concerned about privacy and data tracking.

Possible disadvantages of Blacklight by The Markup

  • Limited Scope
    Blacklight analyzes only a subset of potential tracking technologies, which might not cover all methods used by websites.
  • Performance Variability
    The accuracy and performance of Blacklight may vary depending on the website being analyzed and the current reach of its detection capabilities.
  • Technical Limitations
    As a browser-based tool, Blacklight may not intercept all types of tracking, particularly those that are more advanced or deeply embedded.
  • Lack of Actionable Recommendations
    While Blacklight provides information on tracking, it does not offer specific recommendations for users on how to mitigate or block these practices.

ToS;DR features and specs

  • Transparency
    ToS;DR provides clear summaries of complex terms of service agreements, making it easier for users to understand their rights and obligations.
  • Crowdsourced Contributions
    The platform allows for community contributions, enabling a wide array of perspectives and insights, which can increase the accuracy and relevance of the service evaluations.
  • User Education
    By breaking down and explaining legal jargon, ToS;DR helps educate users about digital rights and privacy issues.
  • Time-Saving
    Users can save time by reading the concise summaries instead of going through lengthy legal documents themselves.
  • Service Ratings
    ToS;DR provides ratings for each service, helping users quickly gauge the overall quality and fairness of the terms.

Possible disadvantages of ToS;DR

  • Limited Scope
    Not all services are covered, and users may not find information on less popular or new services.
  • Potential for Bias
    As a crowdsourced platform, the quality and objectivity of reviews could vary, potentially leading to biased summaries.
  • Update Frequency
    The platform may not always be up-to-date with the latest changes in terms of service, which can lead to outdated or inaccurate information.
  • Dependence on Community Engagement
    The effectiveness of the platform relies on active community participation, which can fluctuate and affect content quality.
  • Incompleteness
    Summaries might not capture every important detail of the terms and could lead to oversimplification, causing users to miss critical nuances.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Blacklight by The Markup and ToS;DR)
Analytics
100 100%
0% 0
Privacy
33 33%
67% 67
Security & Privacy
25 25%
75% 75
Social Networks
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Blacklight by The Markup should be more popular than ToS;DR. It has been mentiond 25 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Blacklight by The Markup mentions (25)

  • Ask HN: What are some interesting math and physics blogs you follow?
    Posts irregularly, but I've found https://mathwithbaddrawings.com to be good.* There's also https://phys.org, which aggregates content on lots of things, including physics. https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/ looks relevant, but I don't read it that much (not because it's boring but just because I don't find particle physics interesting) *Tracker warning: https://themarkup.org/blacklight found 92 ad trackers and 274... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Meta to let users refuse its cross-site tracking following German antitrust intervention
    You can use the blacklight tool to find where Meta (and many other trackers) target you on other sites. You can also scan sites for keylogging, session tracking, and more for free. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Mozilla pushing pop-up ad to promote its VPN service in Firefox
    Sadly so, and I sadly don't think we're headed towards another IE situation, as that at least was broken up. Google has already gone way beyond IE. They're in almost everything. On the internet side, you should look up Electron and CEF (chromium embedded framework). W3C, WHATWG, Khronos Group. As well as most any site you can think of for their third party injections; https://themarkup.org/blacklight or... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Americaโ€™s online privacy problems are much bigger than TikTok
    Case in point, the Washington post has 17 different ad trackers and 30 third party cookies... https://themarkup.org/blacklight?url=www.washingtonpost.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • what is the best search engine?
    This thread was motivation to do a quantitative test on the article and what is a good browser. Security and quality are the top two attributes for me. Using https://themarkup.org/blacklight the result is super clear that Neeva is what I want. My results here: https://twitter.com/backofthenapkin/status/1637938735403913216?s=20. Source: over 2 years ago
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ToS;DR mentions (6)

  • Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (June 2025)
    The risk is that they enter into a legally binding contract with a corporation without any idea what they are getting themselves into. How it started: I read news about Disney blocking a wrongful death lawsuit, since the victim agreed to a arbitration clause when they signed up for a disney+ trial. I started looking into available options for services that can mitigate this and found the amazing... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Is it possible for one website you visit to get access to the list of websites you've visited?
    Most major social media sites are quite nefarious when it comes to data harvesting of members and non-members alike. You don't even have to be on one of their pages to be tracked via third party scripts. For example, if you are on a blog or something that has social media share buttons, those sites will know that you visited that page from those plugins alone. I suggest you check out Terms of Service; Didn't Read.... Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Terms of Service didnt read
    Para aware din kayo sa ina-agree niyong checkbox. Check this site - https://tosdr.org/en/frontpage. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Plug-in that gave you a star rating for the privacy compliance of a website
    Https://tosdr.org/ has a browser addon that's pretty helpful in that regard. Source: over 3 years ago
  • "You waive your moral rights" what does that mean exactly?
    I visited ToS;DR and that sentence appears many times, and it sounds pretty alarming to me. There's this explanation or something, but I'm at work too tired right now to understand this stuff. I think it's something like "When you post things they no longer belong to you" maybe? I'm not sure though. Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Blacklight by The Markup and ToS;DR, you can also consider the following products

Fathom Analytics - Simple, trustworthy website analytics (finally)

TLDR Terms - Use AI to instantly summarize websites' terms of service, while highlighting any potentially concerning elements. Uses the Google Gemini API via a backend server.

HandL - Label data for machine learning with ease

PrivacySpy - Making online privacy (slightly) simpler

iubenda - A 360-degree solution to make your sites and apps compliant with privacy laws like the GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, ePrivacy, and more

Polisis - AI that reads privacy policies so that you don't have to!