Hmm. This is a difficult post. Mainly because it will be easy to misinterpret but I will try.

I currently run infrastructure – namely DNS servers that form the backbone of my ad-blocking software for Galaxy phones. The software runs a custom DNS server that blocks a list of domains containing malware, phishing, ads and tracking websites.

I created the infrastructure out of frustration from not being able to control what my phone was doing in the background. The idea is rather simple. It uses a VPN service inside Android to use my own DNS servers. This stops ads from loading, and stops apps from “phoning home” to send analytics data.

Now. I hate ads – but they are necessary as people are not willing to pay for content. This means companies are resorting to more nefarious ways to make a return on their investment – mass surveillance.

Here are the raw stats – make up your own mind.

Queries: 1190297, blocked: 656566

March 25 – Jun 02

Total for top blocked domains: 124282 => graph.facebook.com 84096 => mobile.pipe.aria.microsoft.com 76623 => www.googleadservices.com 36648 => ssl.google-analytics.com 34621 => googleads.g.doubleclick.net 28338 => app-measurement.com 23909 => reports.crashlytics.com 23116 => graph.accountkit.com 21129 => graph.instagram.com 18301 => api.segment.io 12424 => settings.crashlytics.com 9919 => lt.andomedia.com 9861 => e.crashlytics.com 8487 => device-api.urbanairship.com 7639 => analytics.localytics.com 7057 => t.appsflyer.com 6864 => s.youtube.com 6364 => cmdts.ksmobile.com 5690 => profile.localytics.com 5670 => app.adjust.com 5350 => data.logentries.com 5300 => secure-dcr.imrworldwide.com 4694 => mobile-collector.newrelic.com 4329 => pubads.g.doubleclick.net 3790 => data.flurry.com 3483 => ip-api.com 3305 => gjapplog.uc.cn 3171 => vortex.data.microsoft.com 3091 => z.moatads.com 3077 => www.googletagmanager.com 2761 => www.google-analytics.com 2622 => decide.mixpanel.com 2284 => api.mixpanel.com 1746 => ads.nexage.com 1739 => ads.mopub.com 1602 => api.facebook.com 1581 => securepubads.g.doubleclick.net 1484 => device-metrics-us.amazon.com 1238 => geo.yahoo.com 1151 => stats.pandora.com 1107 => wzrkt.com 1071 => rts.mobula.sdk.duapps.com 1060 => live.chartboost.com 1049 => stats.appsflyer.com 996 => cdn.optimizely.com 867 => pagead2.googlesyndication.com 853 => hotstar.pubnub.net 816 => www.startappexchange.com 785 => events.appsflyer.com 770 => adservice.google.com 761 => wd.adcolony.com Totals for top domains: 134631 => graph.facebook.com 87022 => mobile.pipe.aria.microsoft.com 79471 => www.googleadservices.com 77897 => freebsd-cloud (host name of my server) 42356 => ssl.google-analytics.com 37064 => googleads.g.doubleclick.net 32577 => app-measurement.com 24627 => reports.crashlytics.com 23663 => graph.accountkit.com 21893 => graph.instagram.com 18726 => api.segment.io 15076 => settings.crashlytics.com 14603 => android.clients.google.com 12929 => www.googleapis.com 12537 => e.crashlytics.com 10968 => www.google.com 10570 => play.googleapis.com 9919 => lt.andomedia.com 8885 => device-api.urbanairship.com 8120 => api.samsungcloud.com 7743 => analytics.localytics.com 7399 => t.appsflyer.com 6892 => s.youtube.com 6571 => cmdts.ksmobile.com 6340 => app.adjust.com 6119 => mqtt-mini.facebook.com 5698 => profile.localytics.com 5431 => secure-dcr.imrworldwide.com 5350 => data.logentries.com 5238 => clients3.google.com 4749 => mobile-collector.newrelic.com 4727 => data.flurry.com 4716 => inbox.google.com 4483 => pubads.g.doubleclick.net 4429 => youtubei.googleapis.com 3846 => analytics.query.yahoo.com 3752 => www.google-analytics.com 3666 => clients4.google.com 3490 => ip-api.com 3423 => gjapplog.uc.cn 3367 => z.moatads.com 3314 => www.googletagmanager.com 3309 => edge-mqtt.facebook.com 3303 => imap.gmail.com 3267 => safebrowsing.googleapis.com 3218 => mtalk.google.com 3173 => vortex.data.microsoft.com 3168 => cloudconfig.googleapis.com 3121 => i.instagram.com 2956 => i.ytimg.com 2941 => www.youtube.com