TrackOFF, a Baltimore privacy software company, has landed a deal with Best Buy to sell its software program, which prevents websites from tracking users' online activity, in more than 1,000 stores nationwide.
The deal is a big step for TrackOFF, which debuted its eponymous software program in August 2015. Being on Best Buy's shelves will increase the company's exposure to potential customers, boost its reputation and could grow revenue by 30 percent, said CEO Chandler Givens.
"It's a huge milestone for our company," Givens said.
TrackOFF specializes in blocking digital fingerprinting, a tracking tactic in which websites use uniquely identifiable information about a computer to track a user's online activity. This approach is more sophisticated than cookies — the common trackers left behind by web browsing — and therefore harder to block.
Earlier this year, the company released an updated version, called TrackOFF Elite, which also blocks tracking from cookies and establishes a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, to make it harder to track location.
TrackOFF will be available for sale at Best Buy at the end of October, just before the start of the holiday shopping season. The timing could give the company an extra sales boost as it breaks into the national market, Givens said.
"Half the battle is getting in the store, the other half is getting the product off the shelves," he said.
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