When we built Accucast in 1998, we wanted to know when someone opened up the email, and had the idea to include a 1x1 transparent GIF image in the email that would be loaded from our server when the email was opened. This was the birth of the tracking pixel, and it's been used in email and on the web ever since to track user behavior, often without the user's knowledge or consent. (I don't claim to have invented the idea, of course, that's the kind of idea that occurs to many simultaneously because its time is ripe.)
To say that they are ubiquitous is a terrible understatement. They're everywhere. And not just that each site is tracking you - they're not. They've outsourced it to Meta, Google, and others. Meta's tracking pixel, in particular, is everywhere just hoovering up whatever behavioral data they can find on you. Ever wonder how you can have a discussion about, say, apple peelers, and suddenly you're served ads from every angle for apple peelers?
Not here, man. I'm in complete control of the platform here and the assets served up. There's no need for tracking pixels nor will there ever be. I don't need to know when you open the email or what you do on any site. I explicitly don't want to share what happens here with Meta or Google.
OK! Off my soapbox. Have you played Hallway Melee in the Arcade??? I'm quite proud of it, it's a surprisingly engaging game.