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We should get on top of the link tracking problem (hexbear.net)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've noticed a rise in people sharing links to YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and reddit that include tracking parameters in the URL.

It might largely be harmless for now, but it's not good to let companies build a web of links between users of this site, and to link the usernames of users on this site to their off-site accounts, which may include sensitive info.

SM	URL Part	Appearance in URL	Filtration technique
Youtube	Query	?si=*	Remove query string
Instagram	Query	?igshid=*	Remove query string
Twitter	Query	?t=	Remove query string
Tiktok	Subdomain and path	(vm/vt).tiktok.com/(random_string)	Block
reddit	Path	/(sub_name)/s/(random_string)	Block

This site should only allow canonical links to the content to limit the information exposed.

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[-] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago

Yeah, maybe it's better to take it to dessalines instead of keeping it on hb

StackExchange

Good call especially since we know the FBI used data from them in one high-profile sting already lol

[-] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I am very much in favor of getting as many of these as convenient off Hexbear. I made a smaller thread about I think the twitter ones a long time ago and it didn't go anywhere at the time.

Don't forget the general purpose UTM ones:

utm_content=site-enterprise-button&utm_source=organic&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=null

These are used across the net, various sites document what they are, like this one: https://mailchimp.com/resources/utm-links/

this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024

132 points (100.0% liked)

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