diff --git a/cmd/watchdog/root.go b/cmd/watchdog/root.go
index 7e8ff22..3fa4744 100644
--- a/cmd/watchdog/root.go
+++ b/cmd/watchdog/root.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
@@ -167,6 +168,23 @@ func basicAuth(next http.Handler, username, password string) http.Handler {
 	})
 }
 
+// Sanitizes a path for logging to prevent log injection attacks. Uses strconv.Quote
+// to properly escape control characters and special bytes.
+func sanitizePathForLog(path string) string {
+	escaped := strconv.Quote(path)
+	if len(escaped) >= 2 && escaped[0] == '"' && escaped[len(escaped)-1] == '"' {
+		escaped = escaped[1 : len(escaped)-1]
+	}
+
+	// Limit path length to prevent log flooding
+	const maxLen = 200
+	if len(escaped) > maxLen {
+		return escaped[:maxLen] + "..."
+	}
+
+	return escaped
+}
+
 // Creates a file server that only serves whitelisted files. Blocks dotfiles, .git, .env, etc.
 // TODO: I need to hook this up to eris somehow so I can just forward the paths that are being
 // scanned despite not being on a whitelist. Would be a good way of detecting scrapers, maybe.
@@ -179,7 +197,7 @@ func safeFileServer(root string, blockedRequests *prometheus.CounterVec) http.Ha
 		// Block directory listings
 		if strings.HasSuffix(path, "/") {
 			blockedRequests.WithLabelValues("directory_listing").Inc()
-			log.Printf("Blocked directory listing attempt: %s from %s", path, r.RemoteAddr)
+			log.Printf("Blocked directory listing attempt: %s from %s", sanitizePathForLog(path), r.RemoteAddr)
 			http.NotFound(w, r)
 			return
 		}
@@ -188,7 +206,7 @@ func safeFileServer(root string, blockedRequests *prometheus.CounterVec) http.Ha
 		for segment := range strings.SplitSeq(path, "/") {
 			if strings.HasPrefix(segment, ".") {
 				blockedRequests.WithLabelValues("dotfile").Inc()
-				log.Printf("Blocked dotfile access: %s from %s", path, r.RemoteAddr)
+				log.Printf("Blocked dotfile access: %s from %s", sanitizePathForLog(path), r.RemoteAddr)
 				http.NotFound(w, r)
 				return
 			}
@@ -199,7 +217,7 @@ func safeFileServer(root string, blockedRequests *prometheus.CounterVec) http.Ha
 				strings.HasSuffix(lower, ".bak") ||
 				strings.HasSuffix(lower, "~") {
 				blockedRequests.WithLabelValues("sensitive_file").Inc()
-				log.Printf("Blocked sensitive file access: %s from %s", path, r.RemoteAddr)
+				log.Printf("Blocked sensitive file access: %s from %s", sanitizePathForLog(path), r.RemoteAddr)
 				http.NotFound(w, r)
 				return
 			}
@@ -209,7 +227,7 @@ func safeFileServer(root string, blockedRequests *prometheus.CounterVec) http.Ha
 		ext := strings.ToLower(filepath.Ext(path))
 		if ext != ".js" && ext != ".html" && ext != ".css" {
 			blockedRequests.WithLabelValues("invalid_extension").Inc()
-			log.Printf("Blocked invalid extension: %s from %s", path, r.RemoteAddr)
+			log.Printf("Blocked invalid extension: %s from %s", sanitizePathForLog(path), r.RemoteAddr)
 			http.NotFound(w, r)
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/cmd/watchdog/root_test.go b/cmd/watchdog/root_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f434364
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/watchdog/root_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package watchdog
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestSanitizePathForLog(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name   string
+		input  string
+		want   string
+		maxLen int // expected max length check
+	}{
+		{
+			name:   "normal path",
+			input:  "/web/beacon.js",
+			want:   "/web/beacon.js",
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "path with newlines",
+			input:  "/test\nmalicious",
+			want:   `/test\nmalicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "path with carriage return",
+			input:  "/test\rmalicious",
+			want:   `/test\rmalicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "path with tabs",
+			input:  "/test\tmalicious",
+			want:   `/test\tmalicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "path with null bytes",
+			input:  "/test\x00malicious",
+			want:   `/test\x00malicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "path with quotes",
+			input:  `/test"malicious`,
+			want:   `/test\"malicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "path with backslash",
+			input:  `/test\malicious`,
+			want:   `/test\\malicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "control characters",
+			input:  "/test\x01\x02\x1fmalicious",
+			want:   `/test\x01\x02\x1fmalicious`,
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "truncation at 200 chars",
+			input:  "/" + strings.Repeat("a", 250),
+			want:   "/" + strings.Repeat("a", 199) + "...",
+			maxLen: 203, // 200 chars + "..." = 203
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "empty string",
+			input:  "",
+			want:   "",
+			maxLen: 200,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := sanitizePathForLog(tt.input)
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("sanitizePathForLog(%q) = %q, want %q", tt.input, got, tt.want)
+			}
+			if len(got) > tt.maxLen {
+				t.Errorf("sanitizePathForLog(%q) length = %d, exceeds max %d", tt.input, len(got), tt.maxLen)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSanitizePathForLog_LogInjectionPrevention(t *testing.T) {
+	// Log injection attempts should be neutralized
+	maliciousPaths := []string{
+		"/api\nINFO: fake log entry",
+		"/test\r\nERROR: fake error",
+		"/.git/config\x00", // null byte injection
+	}
+
+	for _, path := range maliciousPaths {
+		sanitized := sanitizePathForLog(path)
+		// Check that newlines are escaped, not literal
+		if strings.Contains(sanitized, "\n") || strings.Contains(sanitized, "\r") {
+			t.Errorf("sanitizePathForLog(%q) contains literal newlines: %q", path, sanitized)
+		}
+		// Check that null bytes are escaped
+		if strings.Contains(sanitized, "\x00") {
+			t.Errorf("sanitizePathForLog(%q) contains literal null byte: %q", path, sanitized)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkSanitizePathForLog(b *testing.B) {
+	path := "/test/path/with\nnewlines\rand\ttabs"
+	for b.Loop() {
+		_ = sanitizePathForLog(path)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/api/handler.go b/internal/api/handler.go
index 1b20c85..fe4298d 100644
--- a/internal/api/handler.go
+++ b/internal/api/handler.go
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 package api
 
 import (
-	"math/rand"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
+	mrand "math/rand"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
@@ -23,7 +26,7 @@ type IngestionHandler struct {
 	refRegistry     *normalize.ReferrerRegistry
 	metricsAgg      *aggregate.MetricsAggregator
 	rateLimiter     *ratelimit.TokenBucket
-	rng             *rand.Rand
+	rng             *mrand.Rand
 	trustedNetworks []*net.IPNet // pre-parsed CIDR networks
 }
 
@@ -82,12 +85,19 @@ func NewIngestionHandler(
 		refRegistry:     refRegistry,
 		metricsAgg:      metricsAgg,
 		rateLimiter:     limiter,
-		rng:             rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())),
+		rng:             mrand.New(mrand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())),
 		trustedNetworks: trustedNetworks,
 	}
 }
 
 func (h *IngestionHandler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	// Generate or extract request ID for tracing
+	requestID := r.Header.Get("X-Request-ID")
+	if requestID == "" {
+		requestID = generateRequestID()
+	}
+	w.Header().Set("X-Request-ID", requestID)
+
 	// Handle CORS preflight
 	if r.Method == http.MethodOptions {
 		h.handleCORS(w, r)
@@ -131,8 +141,8 @@ func (h *IngestionHandler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Validate event via map lookup (also O(1))
-	if err := event.ValidateWithMap(h.domainMap); err != nil {
+	// Validate event via map lookup
+	if err := event.Validate(h.domainMap); err != nil {
 		http.Error(w, "Bad request", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
@@ -322,3 +332,13 @@ func (h *IngestionHandler) classifyDevice(width int, userAgent string) string {
 
 	return "unknown"
 }
+
+// generateRequestID creates a unique request ID for tracing
+func generateRequestID() string {
+	b := make([]byte, 8)
+	if _, err := rand.Read(b); err != nil {
+		// Fallback to timestamp if crypto/rand fails
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%d", time.Now().UnixNano())
+	}
+	return hex.EncodeToString(b)
+}