1y ago

Firefox starting to remove tracking parameters from shared URLs

blog.nightly.mozilla.org I Can :has Browser Improvements – These Weeks in Firefox: Issue 148 – Firefox Nightly News

Highlights The platform team has sent an Intent to Ship for the :has selector! Currently targeting Firefox 121. There’s a new item in the content context menu in Nightly ...

Currently still in Nightly and only on 'Copy Link'. Still nice progress though.

Technology @lemmygrad.ml

albigu @lemmygrad.ml

1y ago

Firefox starting to remove tracking parameters from shared URLs

blog.nightly.mozilla.org /2023/11/02/i-can-has-browser-improvements-these-weeks-in-firefox-issue-148/

34 0

85 comments

Great stuff. Firefox swinging the big dick about lately.
- Just slappin the table with that fuckin toddler's leg.
  
  brandishing that baby arm holding an apple
- The John Holmes of browsers
  
  who?

Ooh. I hope this can be set as the default for 'Copy Link' and then I can just have the tracking when I actually want it.
- have the tracking when I actually want it.
  So never? I agree defaulting it would be great as long as it doesn't falsely remove anything.
  
  Not all queryparameters are tracking, so the option to copy the actual href of the hyperlink is useful.
  Most of the time I appreciate a feature that strips them automatically

firefox removes tracking data
chrome wants to make it possible for websites to refuse to serve you data if you run unapproved software
there is, in fact, a good guy in the browser wars
- Reading the chrome bit just made me disgusted lol
- "refuse to serve you data", read as, "refuse to show you ads", yeah right
  
  I would love for you to expand on what you were trying to say with this comment, in great detail. I would consider it a favor.

That’s awesome! I use the Clear URLs extension and it does a great job but it’ll be nice to have this capability baked in.
- Had no idea something existed for this, I'm forever deleted annoying tracking info from links. Mozilla continues to impress me with their privacy additions... latest update notified me about email masking which looks like it'll be a major boon once I work out how to use it.
  
  Clear URL is great. Beware that it can break some login and payment sites though. The Addon unfortunately lacks a whitelist so you have to turn it on and off, so it's easy to forget to turn back on.

This may be difficult to maintain as some query parameters might be necessary. How will they be sure they’re not stripping essential elements? Won’t this become an arms race to mask tracking elements as “legitimate” looking parameters?
Awesome if they can pull it off, though.
- There are common, well-known tracking parameters that Google uses such as the ones starting with "utm_"
  
  most of the time sharing utm links isn't helpful to the origin as if you copy a link from your email it'll have medium=email, but actually should now be medium=direct
- A uBlock style community sourced list would be a great way to address this. Once it's in prod, an addon would be next.
  
  There already is an addon called ClearURLs
- Won’t this become an arms race to mask tracking elements as “legitimate” looking parameters?
  Maybe, but only like 3% of people are using Firefox so, maybe not?
  
  @NounsAndWords
  At least in Germany, it's about 10%.
  @4am

Another fine addition would be a cut of redirecting trash. If you post some link in some soc network, it would sometimes replace it with it's own link going through an outbound clicks tracker, safety pages 'Do you really want to follow it?' or just block you saying the link seems malicious.
If I'm a 3%er, can I choose not to have it?
- There is an Extension called FastForward which skips ad-link redirectors.
  Not sure if thats what you mean.
  
  Gonna try it, thanks.
- I think Gmail on Android does this. Any link you click on in the app Firefox shows you the initial Google address before you go to the link you clicked on.
  If you copy and paste the URL this doesn't happen.

Neat. Now we need a built-in AMPutator.
- Is AMP still a thing? I haven't seen it in ages.
  I don't use Google so maybe that's why, but I hadn't even seen it on Reddit or Lemmy in more than a year I believe.
  
  Oh man. I see it all the time. People share amp links on social too often.
  
  I see it pretty often. But most of the time, if an "AMPutator" bot doesn't reply, someone usually mentions it and says to stop sharing AMP links and provides links to information about it. It's good to see, but most people still aren't aware of it, and most of those people wouldn't care much. We all need to keep a lookout and always be ready to inform and teach others about it. It's good to have articles about how AMP is bad for everyone (except google) saved so we can quickly share them every time we see someone share an AMP link.

Based Firefox

Firefox once again proving it’s the GOAT of browsers.
I’m sure this will come to mobile soon as well.

Fucking fantastic, People’s browser gets better and better!

Would love to see this becoming a default !

BASED

This should be default, or at least a switch, that if enabled, all links copied without tracking. BTW i was thinking, isnt there a simple app or service, that does only this: listen for links in clipboard, if a link added, automatically removes tracking params, and replaces with that on clipboard?
- IMO this shouldn't be default, since it messes with the link you're copying, not only because of the potential to break.

How does firefox determine which params are trackers and which params are required data?
- So how long before they start changing the param names? Lol
  
  So just a set of strings determined to be used for tracking among a set of hosts? It's not like I have a better solution, but I feel like making this anti-tracking method encourages more complex tracking params. At some point, I wouldn't be surprised to see randomly generated query parameter keys which are resolved server side, making this approach impossible.

Tried it yesterday. Not working on Amazon links quite yet, hopefully the feature improves. Would love the ability to toggle it for default.

It’s a shame they went for the additional option rather than a persistent setting that would always strip it from a URI.
- Hoping that this is just testing for that to come.
- Ublock can strip it from the URL automatically, though if the website checkw this it might block stuff :/
  Would need some deeper integration to be able to separate the URL bar the Website sees and the one you see. (like the current separation of the DOM)
  
  If Apple can do it, Mozilla can do it: https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-remove-tracking-info-from-links-in-macos-safari-and-reclaim-your-privacy/

Good move

I think I’m against this. Not because it’s the wrong thing to do, but it’s just going to swing marketers & such to obscure their tracking URLs to something like /my-slug/hashed-uid-for-tracking-without-query-param/post & it maybe unsafe or impossible to replace that part of the URL is some cases (think how not all credit cards numbers work, it has a built-in algorithm). The corpos can do this already now but query params are easier & less fiddly. Despite the large number of add-ons that could combat this already (including a uBlock Origin filter list), there wasn’t enough incentive to start another ad/tracking arms race… but you introduce it as a default feature in a major (🤞) browser, & now the corpos take notice instead of being able to wave it off as something a minority of users are doing.
…And I say this as the guy that reminds $WORK chat poster to remove their tracking URLs for the privacy of the group

wonder if they would actually bake in something like actually legitimate url shortener tool

🙏
Happy to see this.

Will it work for Gmail's link hijackers where it routes you first to Google then forwards you to the actual site?

Yeah ok but my affiliate links what happens to them?
- Valid question. Im short: They will stop working.
  You are getting downvoted for the question because most people here think that you shouldn't use them. And they might be right.

Do it for affiliate links too.
- Actually curious. What's wrong with people making money?
  
  Nothing wrong with people making money if they are honest about their shilling and tell you upfront if they are affiliate links and they get a cut if you click on them, or that their product review is sponsored. One of my favorite yt channels is cheaprvliving and Bob will be straight and honest with you about that and I like that.
  I do think its a little sleezy when creators don't be honest with you about them shilling and making money from affiliate links.
  
  In many cases a lot of sites don’t make it clear that they have a conflict of interest.
  You want to push a product on me and you’ll get a cut? Cool, but disclose that.
  
  Nothing provided it is an honest and upfront with consent from the user. The problem is vast majority of affiliate links are non-consensual, buried in articles and in the worst case are the reason that pages even exist - "top ten dishwashers", "50 gifts to buy your wife for Christmas" etc. clickbait garbage. I doubt most visitors even understand that's why the pages exist or the financial remuneration they get from making these lists.
  So it would not be a bad thing that if a browser to detect an affiliate link and ask you if you wanted to follow it as-is or strip the affiliate info out with a checkbox to remember the decision for the site.

At first, I thought this was a joke about privacy until I realized that this is real and sadly this is something we need.

I like the ':has' pun in the title too. Supporting that is a real game changer!

Hope one day Firefox integrates uBlock Origin by default.
- What you want is Librewolf then.

Based.

Nice.

It would be nice if it also available in android.
- Won't take long, I'm sure. The mobile features are usually following the desktop implementation closely, for anything but the addon functionality.

Sorry for necroposting but are you the real linux creator
- Lmao no
  
  oh okay

This is great because I hate manually removing that stuff before I share a link. And I always have to test the link before clicking send.

Edit: disregard below. I suck cocks.
I'll be honest and say that I'd rather the browser not modify the URLs I want to share.
Unless it's an option..
- It's literally the option above...
  
  Oh hehe, serves me right for not reading TFM.

85 comments