

PlusOne

@66.249.83.x PlusOne Anon Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working ProPublica sowing FUD for no reason. Why they did this other than to draw viewers to their website is a mystery.



Noah Vail

Oh God please no.

Premium Member

join:2004-12-10

SouthAmerica Noah Vail Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working I was confused when I read the article too - tweeted the same solutions you mention, to @ProPublica.



It could be most of ProPublica's audience isn't savvy enough to be blocking trackers.

This could push them into better securing their browsers.



Also

I've often run squid+squidGuard+shallalist at the edge to strip out crap for everyone.



camper

just visiting this planet

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join:2010-03-21

Bethel, CT camper Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by Noah Vail: ...I've often run squid+squidGuard+shallalist at the edge to strip out crap for everyone.

I use privoxy and squid .... I use privoxy and squid ....



cowboyro

Premium Member

join:2000-10-11

Shelton, CT cowboyro to Noah Vail

Premium Member to Noah Vail

Unless you are using private browsing and masquarading the UA and IP for each session, you can be tracked.

I can feed you certain files with different caching policies or ETags. Based on the requests you make (If-Modified-Since) I can positively identify you later on.

I can tag your IP with your UA. IPs don't change that often for "home" clients. Even if you upgrade the browser or start a private window I can re-tag you with a pretty damn good accuracy.

Mobile may be a different story, but going into private tabs every time quickly becomes a PITA.



camper

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Bethel, CT 1 edit camper Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by cowboyro: Unless you are using private browsing and masquarading the UA and IP for each session, you can be tracked.



Everything else you mention either changes frequently, is deleted when the browser closes, is removed on a regular basis by ccleaner, or is blocked/modified by some custom means.



One other aspect of your plan --- you cannot put anything on my computer unless my browser accesses your server. If all of the tracking servers are blocked at my perimeter, your server will never gain access to my browser to do all the things you mention. About the only thing that can be used to track me is the IP address. And I'm pondering whether to change the IP address on a regular basis....Everything else you mention either changes frequently, is deleted when the browser closes, is removed on a regular basis by ccleaner, or is blocked/modified by some custom means.One other aspect of your plan --- you cannot put anything on my computer unless my browser accesses your server. If all of the tracking servers are blocked at my perimeter, your server will never gain access to my browser to do all the things you mention.



cowboyro

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join:2000-10-11

Shelton, CT cowboyro Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working Do you masquerade your UA on *every* new page, use a private tab on every new page and change your IP on every new page? If not then you are traceable.

Just trust me on this one, it is not that complicated to implement, the difficulty arises from manipulating the sheer amount of data collected and cross-referencing it. And once I can associate only one of your tags with the current session all your effort is rendered useless.



camper

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Bethel, CT camper Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by cowboyro: Do you masquerade your UA on *every* new page, use a private tab on every new page and change your IP on every new page? If not then you are traceable.



Once again, my browser has to access a server in order for that server to track me. Ghostery, ABP, and others, plus my custom means, all prevent any accesses to tracking servers by my browser.



said by cowboyro: Just trust me on this one, it is not that complicated to implement, ...And once I can associate only one of your tags with the current session all your effort is rendered useless.

Please tell me how you get a "tag" on my computer if my browser does not access your server. Once again, my browser has to access a server in order for that server to track me. Ghostery, ABP, and others, plus my custom means, all prevent any accesses to tracking servers by my browser. Please tell me how you get a "tag" on my computer if my browser does not access your server.



cowboyro

Premium Member

join:2000-10-11

Shelton, CT 1 edit cowboyro Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by camper: Please tell me how you get a "tag" on my computer if my browser does not access your server.

And most blockers only block a list of DNS names. Just point to IPs that keep changing and the blockers are rendered useless.

Unless you are willing to downgrade your browsing experience to 1995 standards, you can be tracked. Deal with it.

Oh, and the ISP can still track you unless you use something like Tor or an encrypted SOCKS proxy... and even then you can be tracked by the exit nodes... It's really interesting (to say the least) to watch what people are browsing using Tor... Do you request a page from my server? Then I track you myself, without the need for 3rd party trackers.And most blockers only block a list of DNS names. Just point to IPs that keep changing and the blockers are rendered useless.Unless you are willing to downgrade your browsing experience to 1995 standards, you can be tracked. Deal with it.Oh, and the ISP can still track you unless you use something like Tor or an encrypted SOCKS proxy... and even then you can be tracked by the exit nodes... It's really interesting (to say the least) to watch what people are browsing using Tor...



camper

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Bethel, CT camper Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by cowboyro: Do you request a page from my server?

If you are a tracking server, then no, I did not request a page from your server.



And most blockers only block a list of DNS names.

Most, but not all. Changing IPs isn't the cure-all you hope. An CIDR block can be indentified and blocked just as easily as a domain name by the blockers. I know, I do it.



the ISP can still track you

Yup. But I've been talking about marketing trackers, since that is what this thread's original article was about.



Preventing the ISP from tracking me is a whole 'nother thread.... If you are a tracking server, then no, I did not request a page from your server. Most, but not all. Changing IPs isn't the cure-all you hope. An CIDR block can be indentified and blocked just as easily as a domain name by the blockers. I know, I do it. Yup. But I've been talking about marketing trackers, since that is what this thread's original article was about.Preventing the ISP from tracking me is a whole 'nother thread....



cowboyro

Premium Member

join:2000-10-11

Shelton, CT cowboyro Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by camper: Changing IPs isn't the cure-all you hope. An CIDR block can be indentified and blocked just as easily as a domain name by the blockers Not when you are a big company and can easily use thousands of IPs all over the world.



camper

just visiting this planet

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Bethel, CT camper Premium Member Re: Adblock, ghostery, noscript, etc prevent addthiss from working said by cowboyro: Not when you are a big company and can easily use thousands of IPs all over the world.

Well, that has a few issues. Among them...



In order for trackers to work, those IP addresses need to be placed in websites that people visit. Those websites typically do not allow IP-address-based trackers, they require domain-name-based trackers. That's a choke point for trackers, the tracking companies need the cooperation of websites to place the trackers on the webpages. The mainstream websites will not want to do business with sleazy tracking companies who need to use IP-address-based tracking servers.



Also, using thousands of IP addresses around the world is not all that different than using thousands of different domain names. Yet you seem to agree that domain names can be blocked easily. So why not CIDR range blocks? It's essentially the same thing. Well, that has a few issues. Among them...In order for trackers to work, those IP addresses need to be placed in websites that people visit. Those websites typically do not allow IP-address-based trackers, they require domain-name-based trackers. That's a choke point for trackers, the tracking companies need the cooperation of websites to place the trackers on the webpages. The mainstream websites will not want to do business with sleazy tracking companies who need to use IP-address-based tracking servers.Also, using thousands of IP addresses around the world is not all that different than using thousands of different domain names. Yet you seem to agree that domain names can be blocked easily. So why not CIDR range blocks? It's essentially the same thing.

big_e

join:2011-03-05 1 recommendation big_e Member What part of do not track me do they not understand? At least with cookies, they had plausible deniability, i.e. If you don't like being tracked, then delete the cookies. I consider this type of behavior a malicious browser exploit that must be patched via a security update.



If this tracking technology becomes commonplace, Mozilla will probably respond by adding some extra sandboxing or allow/deny permissions to plug that security hole. An average website does not need access to my computer's GPU via WebGL.



Google probably wouldn't do anything to fix this with chrome because tracking is part of their core business model.



TamaraB

Question The Current Paradigm

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Da Bronx Ubiquiti NSM5

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TamaraB Premium Member Re: What part of do not track me do they not understand? said by big_e: An average website does not need access to my computer's GPU via WebGL.



Correct! This is trivial to block. It's the same as a rouge system doing a port-scan. Here, they get blocked both ways at the firewall, as are all tracking and ad servers which I observe in the logs.

RightHere

Premium Member

join:2003-02-02 RightHere to big_e

Premium Member to big_e

said by big_e: An average website does not need access to my computer's GPU via WebGL. Makes me wonder what other info is available to any random website.



camper

just visiting this planet

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join:2010-03-21

Bethel, CT 1 recommendation camper Premium Member Another day, another hyped-up story about the unstoppable cookie...

Remember the







But more to the point...



If, as the advertisers say, consumers want to be tracked so that they can receive more targeted advertising, then why do those advertisers have to devise increasing stealthy means to track users?



Perhaps, just perhaps, the users really don't want to be tracked. Remember the evercookie But more to the point...If, as the advertisers say, consumers want to be tracked so that they can receive more targeted advertising, then why do those advertisers have to devise increasing stealthy means to track users?Perhaps, just perhaps, the users really don't want to be tracked.



Jim Gurd

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join:2000-07-08

Livonia, MI Jim Gurd Premium Member Re: Another day, another hyped-up story about the unstoppable cookie... said by camper: Remember the evercookie? CCleaner defeats Evercookie. I just tested it at the link you provided.

dra6o0n

join:2011-08-15

Mississauga, ON dra6o0n Member Re: Another day, another hyped-up story about the unstoppable cookie... in a normal computer environment, that's just like a worm.



Nameless

join:2014-02-25

Lexington, MA 1 recommendation Nameless Member Adblock plus is the best browser plugin ever written. Enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be. Use ABP.



Not affiliated, just a very happy user.



n2jtx

join:2001-01-13

Glen Head, NY n2jtx Member Re: Adblock plus is the best browser plugin ever written. said by Nameless: Enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be. Use ABP.



Not affiliated, just a very happy user. I agree and combined with Ghostery, they make a fantastic pair of plugins. In fact, the inability to use them on iOS devices is one of my MAJOR pet peeves with the iPad and iPhone. I am so used to looking at clean sanitized web sites on my PC only to get a pile of garbage when I view the same sites on my iPad or iPhone. It is nice that these tools are available on Android platforms and is something pushing me in that direction.

elefante72

join:2010-12-03

East Amherst, NY elefante72 Member Re: Adblock plus is the best browser plugin ever written. IT is specifically for that reason I am rotating out all Apple equipment in the house. First went the Macbook, then the kids to Nexus 7, and now I have a LG Gpad. The only remaining are the phones (which I hate BTW), and when my company gives me the greenlight they go to non-Samsung phones which I consider the Apple of Android.



Smith6612

MVM

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North Tonawanda, NY Smith6612 MVM Re: Adblock plus is the best browser plugin ever written. Go Moto!

WhatNow

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Charlotte, NC WhatNow to n2jtx

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AdBlock+, NoScript and now Better Privacy is why I use Firefox. I always wondered why everybody complained about ads then I have to use IE for a few sites that do not work on FF and I see what they are talking about.



TamaraB

Question The Current Paradigm

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Da Bronx Ubiquiti NSM5

Synology RT2600ac

Apple AirPort Extreme (2013)

TamaraB to Nameless

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said by Nameless: Enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be. Use ABP. Yes, as well as Ghostery, cookie smashers, and your firewall. Look at the sites these programs block and report, then permanently block those sites at the firewall. Eventually you will see less and less blocking from those browser plugins, and you will see almost no ads. Advertisers are the enemy of privacy, keep their adverts, cookies, and trackers out.

FrontirCynic

join:2006-10-25

Long Beach, CA FrontirCynic to Nameless

Member to Nameless

agree "Adblock plus is the best browser plugin ever written."



cork1958

Cork

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join:2000-02-26 1 recommendation cork1958 to Nameless

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said by Nameless: Enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be. Use ABP.



That along with a killer host file and router setup correctly, makes me feel very well protected. Couldn't agree more!That along with a killer host file and router setup correctly, makes me feel very well protected.



cableties

Premium Member

join:2005-01-27 cableties Premium Member As long as... AdBlock+ doesn't sell or disable some feature like they did when Google paid to be on their whitelist.

I get making money. But don't expect them not to allow other sites that are willing to pay...



Selenia

Gentoo Convert

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join:2006-09-22

Fort Smith, AR Selenia to cableties

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Are you flippin serious? There is a screen in ABP called preferences. From there, untick the box for allowing some non-intrusive advertising and voila. Amazing what happens when somebody does rtfm. As to selling out? That is not in the manual but they did discuss this new option on the internet. It was to allow websites to still make a living if they used ads that followed a certain code of ethics like text ads not popups and a privacy policy.

dra6o0n

join:2011-08-15

Mississauga, ON dra6o0n to cableties

Member to cableties

Surprisingly I often subconsciously read text ads by Google more so than the stupid picture or video ads.



People don't want a thousand words plz. Short and simple text are better and if people don't care, then so be it.