#trackers

danie10@squeet.me

Google is CRIPPLING their Find My Device network with ‘aggregation by default’ setting

A hand holding a white disc shaped object. The other hand is holding a smartphone which has text on the screen saying Chipolo ONE Point and options for find nearby, play sound, and share device.
From the beginning, Google has prioritized being privacy-conscious with the Find My Device (FMD) network, including delaying the launch until the iPhone gained unknown tracker alerts. Google chose “aggregation by default” to the detriment of Find My Device performance, and is seemingly doubling down on that decision.

The default Find My Device network setting is “With network in high-traffic areas only.” Multiple Android devices have to detect an object before its location is shared. So far, users have found this ineffective in real-world usage, with trackers not being located.

Unlike Apple who has this type of setting as opt-out by users, and which results in a far more extensive network to find your lost items, Google has restricted it to opt-in. Looking at reviews about the Motorola Moto tags, I see this issue cropping up a lot. Great tags, but the Google network is just not locating your device until multiple Android users have passed it.

It is not as if any 3rd party is going to identify you or your location whether this setting is enabled or not. Your identity and location is never passed to the others users.

What it means is that Google is basically crippling their network, whilst Apple’s is functioning extremely well. With Apple being who they are, they seem to be happy with the default settings reporting the location of a lost tag with just one iOS device passing by.

We are all familiar with default settings, and with this one as it is, it means Google’s network is never really going to function well. You can really forget about expecting a few billion people to all changing this setting themselves. It would have been better to activate it properly and put a notice on the start-up screen to inform what it does.

See 9to5google.com/2024/07/09/goog…
#Blog, #findmydevice, #technology, #trackers

danie10@squeet.me

Pebblebee’s new Universal trackers can switch between Google’s and Apple’s networks on the fly

Numerous white stones in the background. Resting on top is a plain black rectangular plastic device.
When buying a Bluetooth tracker, you typically need to make certain you’re getting the model tailored to either the Google Find My Device or Apple Find My network. Pebblebee recently became the first company to release models that support either, and they come in all three form factors: card, keychain, and ultra-compact tag.

I like the no vendor lock in approach as I moved back to Android a year ago but am still stuck with my AirTags, and get daily warnings from my Android phone that an unknown tracker is following me.

These tags are probably ideal for those who are not 100% locked into one phone ecosystem. Hopefully it encourages other manufacturers to also provide this functionality.

See androidpolice.com/pebblebee-un…
#Blog, #technology, #trackers

danie10@squeet.me

You’ll Never Know How Accurate Your Fitness Tracker Is, and That’s OK

A wrist with an Apple Watch on it. Other hand has the index finger touching the screen.
The appeal of fitness-tracking smartwatches is that they have all the answers. They turn our squishy bodies’ inscrutable secrets into hard numbers we can plainly read and analyze. But we would be fooling ourselves if we believed that our smartwatches always tell the truth. According to a new scientific analysis, not only do wearables often get things wrong, it may not be possible to ever really know how accurate they are.

This isn’t going to be shocking news to longtime Lifehacker readers. We’ve discussed the fact that some smartwatch metrics are more reliable than others, and that calorie burn is one of the less accurate ones. On the other hand, heart rate variability shows different raw numbers from one device to another, but the major recovery-focused devices all manage to capture the same rough trend—if you trust my homebrew study with a sample size of one.

So what do we know about the accuracy of the smartwatches on the market, and why is it so hard to answer that question? That’s the problem that the recent analysis, from a group of sports scientists and data scientists in Ireland, set out to answer. It’s an umbrella review—a study of studies of studies—that aimed to collect all the relevant published data on consumer wearables.

I suppose, much like taking most vitamins, trackers can make us feel better about ourselves. It’s not to say they are useless, but they are not medical grade accuracy, and as I posted recently, there is also no absolute “maximum heart rate that works for everyone. So it is better to use these to keep track of changes, and look out for signs when you maybe need to go visit a doctor.

Steve Jobs would have been” right as well about especially wrist based trackers, as a lot depends on how you wear it. Too loose, too low on the wrist, etc can make a massive difference.

And also very true that models get replaced so quickly with new one’s, and good testing takes time to get done.

See lifehacker.com/health/how-accu…
#Blog, #health, #technology, #trackers

danie10@squeet.me

The Moto Tag is an AirTag for Android: It Ticks my Boxes

A hand holding a grey and black coloured disc shaped tracker device. The tracker disc is held by a tan coloured leather looking holder, that is attached to a circular silver keyring holder.
This appears to be the first Find My Device network tag that supports UWB so that finally ticks one of my missing (so far) boxes for fine-grained locating of the tag.

It will be able to re-use my existing AirTag holders which is good, but on the flip side I’d rather prefer built-in keyholes, actually. I am migrating away from AirTags so already have all the holders etc for them.

They do not appear to have a wallet/card option, but right now I do have an AirTag working inside my wallet. I just cannot go any thicker than the AirTag size right now.

As usual, I suppose proper user review testing will reveal more, but that will probably only be after 2nd August.

See theverge.com/2024/6/25/2418561…
#Blog, #technology, #trackers

danie10@squeet.me

Android’s Find My Device network settings FINALLY start going live for some users

Smartphone with screen showing a title Device finders, and Find my Device set to on.
Nearly a year ago at Google I/O, the new “Find My Device” network for trackers was announced for Android, but then delayed indefinitely for the benefit of iPhone users. Now, finally, the network is starting to roll out – sort of.

The Find My Device network piggybacks off of all Android phones with Google Play Services to help users find lost items including phones and smartwatches, as well as trackers, headphones, and more. Google first announced the network in May 2023 with the goal of rolling it out in the months to follow, but the company later announced a delay.

Yes, the hold-up was supposedly Apple refusing to implement their part of the deal, to warn Apple users that an Android tracker was following them. And yes, this despite Google having long ago implemented the warning for Android users. A whole lot of new trackers for Android were supposed to be based on this new standard.

So, I’ve been sitting with a set of AirTags that warn me daily that they are following me around, because I could not yet buy the new trackers for Android. Let’s just hope this now moves ahead with some speed. No-one wants to buy outdated trackers that only work with Samsung, or Tile, or whoever. The new standard will allow any Android device to find your lost tag, which is how Apple’s AirTags work for any iOS device passing by.

See https://9to5google.com/2024/04/03/android-find-my-device-network-live-early/
#Blog, #android, #technology, #trackers

berternste2@diasp.nl

Google’s Corporate Paternalism in The Browser

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

It’s a big year for the oozing creep of corporate paternalism and ad-tracking technology online. Google and its subsidiary companies have tightened their grips on the throat of internet innovation, all while employing the now familiar tactic of marketing these things as beneficial for users. Here we’ll review the most significant changes this year, all emphasizing the point that browser privacy tools (like Privacy Badger) are more important than ever.

(Text continues underneath the image.)

Ilustration: the year in review
.

Chrome, the most popular web browser by all measurements, recently announced the official death date for Manifest V2, hastening the reign of its janky successor, Manifest V3. (...) [W]hat security benefits it has are bought by limiting what all extensions can do. (...) Put bluntly: Chrome, a browser built by an advertising company, has positioned itself as the gatekeeper for in-browser privacy tools, the sole arbiter of how they should be designed. (...) Google’s trackers are present on at least 85% of the top 50,000 websites. (...)

For what it's worth, Apple's Safari browser imposes similar restrictions to allegedly protect Safari users from malicious extensions. (...)

This is just another step in transforming the browser from a user agent to an advertising agent. (...)

Most recently, people with ad-blockers began to see a petulant message from Youtube when trying to watch a video. The blocking message gave users a countdown until they would no longer be able to use the site unless they disabled their ad-blockers. Privacy and security benefits be damned. YouTube, a Google owned company. (...)

Obviously this all sucks. User security shouldn’t be bought by forfeiting privacy. (...)

Complete article

> Read other articles by EFF about the fight for digital rights in 2023

Tags: #internet #google #alphabet #chrome #youtube #trackers #privacy #browser #safari #apple #profile #profiling #Manifest_V3

loposum@diaspora-fr.org

Freetube : Youtube videos, trackers and ads free for desktop computers

FreeTube is a YouTube client for Windows, Mac, and Linux built around using YouTube more privately. You can enjoy your favorite content and creators without your habits being tracked. All of your user data is stored locally and never sent or published to the internet. FreeTube grabs data by scraping the information it needs (with either local methods or by optionally utilizing the Invidious API). With many features similar to YouTube, FreeTube has become one of the best methods to watch YouTube privately on desktop.

FreeTube est un client YouTube pour Windows, Mac et Linux conçu pour une utilisation plus privée de YouTube. Vous pouvez profiter de votre contenu et de vos créateurs préférés sans que vos habitudes soient suivies. Toutes vos données d'utilisateur sont stockées localement et ne sont jamais envoyées ou publiées sur Internet. FreeTube recueille les données en récupérant les informations dont il a besoin (à l'aide de méthodes locales ou en utilisant l'API Invidious). Avec de nombreuses fonctionnalités similaires à celles de YouTube, FreeTube est devenu l'une des meilleures méthodes pour regarder YouTube en privé sur un ordinateur de bureau.

https://freetubeapp.io/

#freetube #youtube #videos #desktop #libre #opensource #freesoftware #adsfree #trackersfree #ads #trackers #desktop #invidious

danie10@squeet.me

Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 Review: Why You Should Wait Before Buying!

A white Samsung smart tag tracker device, showing its large metal ring insert to attach it to something. To the left is part of a smartphone showing just the rear camera lens.
The Galaxy SmartTag 2 is the second generation of Samsung’s line of smart trackers. It features some advantages when compared to rivals such as Tile, Chipolo, and even the Apple AirTag. Not even those, however, are enough to warrant a recommendation on the new model. Read below about the pros and cons of using the SmartTag 2 to not lose your keys, luggage, or pets, and why it is probably better to wait before purchasing one.

Key for me is there is no indication that it will support Google’s Find My network. Although right now Samsung has the most Android phones revolving around the planet, the launch of Google’s Find MY network is imminent. With that network, it will turn all (or most) Android phones into a better network than Apple’s for finding lost tags. I’m dead set against buying any tag that relies on someone else to have installed a specific app to find it.

I do like it’s metal ring (no cover required and should last longer) as well as the easy battery replacement, but it is also probably a shade too thick for me to fit inside my wallet. An Apple AirTag is fitting inside my wallet OK, but this Samsung tag does look a bit too thick for that purpose.

So, I’m waiting a bit…

See https://www.nextpit.com/samsung-galaxy-smarttag-2-review
#Blog, #technology, #trackers

danie10@squeet.me

EFF’s Privacy Badger Now Blocks Ever More Trackers With Their New Badger Swarm

Orange background with title in centre saying Privacy Badger SWARM. On both sides of the title are fierce looking badgers with their fists clenched.
In 2020, the EFF updated Privacy Badger to no longer learn from your browsing by default, as local learning may make you more identifiable to websites. In order to make this change, they expanded the scope of Badger Sett-powered remote learning. They then updated Privacy Badger to start receiving tracker list updates as part of extension updates.

Since Badger Sett automates a real browser, visiting a website takes a meaningful amount of time. That’s where Badger Swarm comes in. As the name suggests, Badger Swarm orchestrates a swarm of auto-driven Privacy Badgers to cover much more ground than a single badger could. On a more technical level, Badger Swarm converts a Badger Sett scan of X sites into N parallel Badger Sett scans of X/N sites. This makes medium scans complete as quickly as small scans, and large scans complete in a reasonable amount of time.

Badger Swarm also helps the EFF produce new insights that lead to improved Privacy Badger protections. For example, Privacy Badger now blocks fingerprinters hosted by CDNs, a feature made possible by Badger Swarm-powered expanded scanning.

You may want to opt back into local learning if you regularly browse less popular websites. To do so, visit your Badger’s options page and mark the checkbox for learning to block new trackers from your browsing.

As a compromise to avoid breaking websites, CDN domains are allowed to load without access to cookies. However, sometimes the same domain is used to serve both unobjectionable content and obnoxious fingerprinters that do not need cookies to track your browsing. Privacy Badger now blocks these fingerprinters.

There are still those who think that their browser data can be publicly used as they have nothing to hide, but it is not about blackmailing or phishing you at all. It is not only about highly selective targeting for commercial advertising, but also for governments and other shady actors to incite anger and outrage type responses to influence voting, religious based reactions, etc. It is not just advertisers who buy this data.

See https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/privacy-badger-learns-block-ever-more-trackers
#Blog, #privacy, #technology, #trackers

magdoz@diaspora.psyco.fr

#AnonChatGPT ...
https://anonchatgpt.com/
Petite critique... ça se veut " #anonyme", mais ça pullule de #trackers de #google ....
Entre le #recaptcha, les #googlesyndication et autres #googletagmanager, on est servis !!

J'ai envoyé un email, il y a quelques temps, mais aucune réaction.... (pour qui veut ajouter sa petite touche : contact@anonchatgpt.com ...)

Qui fait mieux ?
Ou qui connaît mieux que AnonChatGPT ?

Je pense notamment à toutes ces assocs qui ont déjà créé une instance #Invidious ou #Piped... :)

Je sais que beaucoup veulent se dire que cet sujet de l' « #IA » ne les intéresse pas.. et si je comprends la réaction, je ne la partage pas, car #ChatGPT devient incontournable, on sera obligé de faire avec, qu'on le veuille ou non.
On sait déjà ce que cela signifie pour la suite, il vaudrait mieux apprendre à préparer quelques alternatives, du coup...

Une recherche rapide sur Searx : chatgpt anonyme me donne même cette page, qui a vraiment de quoi faire rire !!!
-> https://aiexplorer.io/guides-ia/comment-utiliser-chatgpt-sans-compte/
Pour utiliser ChgaGPT de façon anonyme, sans créer de compte donc, on peut passer par ???? #Bing Chat, #BingAI !! Ou encore mieux, utiliser l'extension #Merlin :

Merlin est une extension de navigateur accessible pour #Microsoft #Edge et Google #Chrome. Elle vous permet de profiter de #GPT-4 sans avoir à créer un compte #OpenAI.

Oui, c'est #comique... et le dindon de la farce, c'est encore nous !

Question #alternatives, je trouve aussi : https://alternativeto.net/software/anonchatgpt/
Il y a de l' #OpenSource, mais je n'en vois pas sans #tracking, de google notamment....

#Numérique #Proxy #Développeur #Dev #ViePrivée #AI #Privacy #Control #Contrôle #Surveillance

danie10@squeet.me

FindMyCat (or dog) is a well-designed open-source tracker for your furry animal

On the left an iPhone showing a map with an icon representing the device being tracked, and in front of it a small yellow collar with a flat white rectangular device mounted on the collar. To the right sits a long-haired ginger-white cat facing the camera, with a bushy tail extending to the right side of the image.
Yes, you could use a AirTag or similar, but this is LTE-M enabled with a SIM and full GPS, and it powers down into an idle mode while the pet is at home. It ends up having a 6-month battery life.

The collar is built around a Nordic Semiconductor NRF-9160, a System in a Package (SiP) that does most of the heavy lifting as it includes GPS, an LTE-M modem, and an ARM processor. One interesting feature here: [Sahas] doesn’t make his antennas on the PCB, but instead uses an Ignion NN03-310, an off-the-shelf antenna that is already qualified for LTE-M use. That means this system can be connected to almost any LTE-M network without getting yelled at for using unqualified hardware and making the local cell towers explode.

As one commentator says, it is really well documented and designed, and looks much like a product designed by Apple themselves. So, an iOS app is expected, but there are no plans to produce an Android app, although the dev says he is open to someone from the community creating one.

See https://hackaday.com/2023/09/19/open-source-tracker-keeps-an-eye-on-furry-friends/
#Blog, #opensource, #pets, #technology, #trackers

magdoz@diaspora.psyco.fr

QSPTAG #291#Mouchards partout : le contrôle à distance des appareils numériques est légalisé
https://www.laquadrature.net/2023/08/31/291/

Reste qu'on peut bloquer la #surveillance du #FAI en utilisant un #DNS. On peut aussi acheter un #smartphone dégooglelisé, qui tourne sur un OS, tel que #LineageOS.

Mais.. Reste la #CarteSIM #SIM !
Cf cette vidéo de Paf LeGeek à 9min : https://yewtu.be/watch?v=em_XgXiGqIU&t=540s
Et n'en déplaise, malheureusement, à ceux qui pensent pouvoir se mettre à l'abri avec un vieux Nokia, non, la carte SIM peut quand même fonctionner comme un processeur à part entière et prendre le #contrôle à distance d'un #téléphone, même éteint !
Le seul moyen d'empêcher cela étant alors d'enlever la #batterie l Et comme par hasard, la plupart des #smartphones ne le permettent pas...
J'ai une autre solution : la pochette #anti-ondes, ou cage #Faraday ! Mais attention, des ondes fortes, comme celles du #Wifi de la Box dans la même pièce, peuvent ne pas être bloquées !
Il faut donc tester. Voire augmenter l'isolation avec de l'alu ou une 2eme pochette.. ou en coupant/réduisant la force du signal Wifi.

Si quelqu'un a une idée, s'il y a du nouveau pour contrer le contrôle par carte SIM, ça m'intéresse.

#Politique #1984 #Trackers #GAFAM #Ondes

magdoz@diaspora.psyco.fr

#Hôpitaux Universitaires de France.. et #trackers...

Je viens d'aller sur le site de l' #Hôpital du coin de chez moi...
Un service donné... et le temps que je jette un œil au haut de mon écran ... 42 + 9 (respectivement #uBlockOrigin et #PrivacyBadger) trackers, en augmentation, déjà 45 pour uBlock !
Pardon .. 49 .. ( le temps que j'écrive !!!)

Et la totale question saletés... du #Doctolib, beaucoup de trackers #google, dont du #youtube, du #addthis, du #doubleclick, etc etc....

Et je parle bien sûr d'un hôpital... #PUBLIC !!!
Et le temps de finir de rédiger ce post, on est à combien de trackers ?

82 + 9 !!!!

#Trahison, secret #médical #MonCul, vive le pognon des #GAFAM et autres #multinationales, sur notre dos...

Pour info :
#Données de #santé
#InterHop https://interhop.org/2021/03/10/reponse-franceinter-doctolib

Nous rappelons que les rendez-vous médicaux sont des données de santé, ceci a été réaffirmé par la #CNIL et le Conseil National de l’Ordre des Médecins #CNOM dans un papier commun3.

prplcdclnw@diasp.eu

Le Sénat donne son feu vert à l’activation à distance des caméras ou micros des téléphones

The Senate gives the green light to the remote activation of the cameras or microphones of the telephones

L'article 3 du projet de loi du garde des Sceaux est controversé et cristallise les inquiétudes de la gauche et d'associations.

Article 3 of the Keeper of the Seals bill is controversial and crystallizes the concerns of the left and associations.

Translations by StartPage.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/justice/le-senat-donne-son-feu-vert-a-l-activation-a-distance-des-cameras-ou-micros-des-telephones_5875187.html

Le Sénat a donné, mercredi 7 juin dans la soirée, son feu vert à une disposition controversée du projet de loi sur la justice autorisant le déclenchement à distance des caméras ou micros des téléphones dans certaines enquêtes, à l'insu des personnes visées. L'article 3 du texte porté par le garde des Sceaux, Eric Dupond-Moretti, examiné en première lecture par les sénateurs, apporte plusieurs modifications à la procédure pénale.\
\
La mesure votée mercredi a deux finalités. D'une part, la géolocalisation en temps réel pour certaines infractions. D'autre part, l'activation de micros et caméras pour capter son et images, qui serait réservée aux affaires de terrorisme, de délinquance et de criminalité organisées.

The Senate gave, Wednesday, June 7 in the evening, the green light to a controversial provision of the justice bill authorizing the remote triggering of cameras or telephone microphones in certain investigations, without the knowledge of the persons concerned. Article 3 of the text carried by the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, examined at first reading by the senators, brings several modifications to the criminal procedure.\
\
The measure voted on Wednesday has two purposes. On the one hand, real-time geolocation for certain offences. On the other hand, the activation of microphones and cameras to capture sound and images, which would be reserved for cases of terrorism, delinquency and organized crime.

"délinquance" (delinquency) seems a bit vague.

#france #privacy #surveillance #spying #smartphones #trackers #smart-phones #computers #cameras #microphones #remote-spying #remote-surveillance #human-rights #civil-rights

gunnar@diasp.org

VPN services - what kind of privacy are they talking about?

Just made a test using Blacklight. Blacklight is a Real-Time Website Privacy Inspector.

Tested: expressvpn.com

ExpressVPN belongs to Kape Technologies, a UK and Israel based digital privacy and security company (ExpressVPN was acquired 2021).

This VPN service makes marketing with slogans like "Just one click to a safer internet - Going online doesn’t have to mean being exposed. Whether you’re shopping from your desk or just connecting at a cafe, keep your personal information more private and secure."

It turned out to be much worse than expected... Personal conclusion: Such a service is not recommended

Blacklight Inspection Result

6 Ad trackers found on this site.

Blacklight detected trackers on this page sending data to companies involved in online advertising.

Blacklight detected scripts belonging to the companies Facebook, Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Alphabet, Inc

3 Third-party cookies were found.

These are commonly used by advertising tracking companies to profile you based on your internet usage. Blacklight detected cookies set for Alphabet, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.

When you visit this site, it tells Facebook.

The Facebook pixel is a snippet of code that sends data back to Facebook about people who visit this site and allows the site operator to later target them with ads on Facebook. 

A Facebook spokesperson told The Markup that the company set up this system so that a user doesn’t have to be “simultaneously logged into Facebook and viewing a third-party website for our business tools to function.”
Common actions that can be tracked via pixel include viewing a page or specific content, adding payment information, or making a purchase.

This site uses Google Analytics and seems to use its ”remarketing audiences” feature that enables user tracking for targeted advertising across the internet.

This feature allows a website to build custom audiences based on how a user interacts with this particular site and then follow those users across the internet and target them with advertising on other sites using Google Ads and Display & Video 360.

A Google spokesperson told The Markup that site operators are supposed to inform visitors when data collected with this feature is used to connect this browsing data with someone’s real-world identity. You know when those shoes you were looking at follow you around the internet? This is one of the trackers leading to that.

Some of the ad-tech companies this website interacted with:

The inspected website contacted some well known actors in the ad-tech industry. Not all of these loaded trackers, so they may be different from those listed in the tests section above. For more information on each company, what it does, and which of its domains Blacklight found during the inspection, click the arrow. Reading this can give you a better idea of how the ad-tech industry works.

Alphabet

Blacklight detected this website sending user data to Alphabet, the technology conglomerate that encompasses Google and associated companies like Nest. The Silicon Valley giant collects data from twice the number of websites as its closest competitor, Facebook. An Alphabet spokesperson told The Markup that internet users can go here if they want to opt out of the company showing them targeted ads based on their browsing history.

The site sent information to the following domains doubleclick.net, google-analytics.com, google.com, googleadservices.com, googleoptimize.com, googletagmanager.com.

#vpn #tracking #security #linux #openvpn #wireguard #privacy #expressvpn #bsd #solaris #google #facebook #microsoft #hackernews #blacklight #alphabet #meta #marketing #trackers #trackingpixel

quetzop1@diasp.org

Internet

I'm really annoyed by the #Internet of today:

  • #Trackers and #data #collection everywhere
  • #JavaScript-heavy #Web #applications instead of document-oriented #websites
  • No #JavaScript most often translates to an empty page with a single sentence: "Please activate JavaScript"; the page content however is often nothing that actually requires JavaScript, the website creators just want to feel like actual #application #developers, so they re-build much of what the #browser already supplies with #inefficient and #bug heavy JavaScript code
  • Content almost always behind a #login wall
  • More often than not only very superficial #information
  • #Ads
  • Thousands of 3rd party JS files included, most of which have the only purpose of tracking you across websites
  • #Misinformation and #biased #information everywhere
  • Deliberately misleading advertisment, sich as "save 80% now", and artificial time pressure)
  • "Best viewed on #Google #Chrome"
  • "Login with Facebook"
  • Newsletter subscription and cookie pop-ups featuring #dark #patterns
  • #Search #engine #optimization ( #SEO ) acts in the worst interest of the user by skewing search results
  • Artificial restriction of web #app functionality to promote their native apps
  • Large parts of the Web are only accessible by #smartphone
  • You have to provide your #phone #number to login
  • If you didn't provide a phone number, your account is being blocked right after the initial login because we suspect you being malicious actor because why not (=> #Instagram, #Facebook)
  • #Proprietary #platforms are required to participate in public #online life (Amazon, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube)
  • One-sentence-paragraphs and sloppy language (especially found in #Medium #articles)
  • "We care about your #privacy" actually means: "We were forced by law to do this shit, we just want to collect and store as much information on you as possible to make money off of you now or in an undescript future"
  • JavaScript code minimizer
  • Large font sizes, much whitespace, large illustrative, but useless images, HD screen required to browse most websites
  • Lack of #government #regulation and #law #enforcement, too many malicious actors (#spam, #phishing, etc.)
  • Emotional content to increase #interaction, #clickbait

Once being an open platform geared towards information exchange and bringing people into contact, most of the public Internet today is nothing but annoying useless #marketing, #advertising and #data #collection. Providing information, connecting people, and making life convenient is definitely NOT the primary goal of whoever is big on the Internet today. It's shocking to see how much of it is only to sell you stuff or to sell your information.

And the worst is: we are even paying them to do this shit. #Marketing spending will be reflected in product prices, and with much of marketing being done in 1st world countries, a substantial amount of the price goes into this destructive industry.

I could go on with this for hours. Really sick of it.

iconnect@diasp.org

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/webapi-blocker/

#restrictfeatures #finegrained #ads #js #javascript #browsertechnology #poweruser #privacy #expertprivacy #firefox #firefoxextension #firefoxaddon #trackers #tracking #fingerprint #fingerprinting #browserfingerprint #tor

WebAPI Blocker, as the name suggests, is designed to block desired JavaScript APIs. This can help to protect your privacy and prevent chances of data breach, hacking or fraud. The extension is easy to use as it has an ON|OFF button. Once you have switched the button ON, it will start to block unwanted APIs and vice versa. Adding APIs is also not a tough task; all you have to do is to type the name of the API you want to block in the designated space and then click the add button next to it. For the convenience of users, there are some commonly used APIs pre-listed in the extension.

requires to have some knowledge related to the functions of the API. If they have mistakenly blocked an API that is important to load a website, the performance of that particular website may be impacted. It may not load completely or become unresponsive. If such an issue occurs, check the APIs you have blocked, try unblocking them, refresh the tab, and check whether the website loads correctly or not. All in all, installing WebAPI Blocker extension could be a viable way to protect your privacy; however, it is important to be aware of the functions of important APIs.