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Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

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Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#11

Post by nsuser »

vessenes wrote: post #4
_RPM wrote: post #2

I'm really not surprised. I assume every website does this. On my Linux laptop, I run NoScript, and I've got Firefox configured to clear EVERYTHING when I close my browser. I don't run Flash or any other plugins. I haven't done much inspection, but the whole notion of "logging out" doesn't mean much to me. In the context of cookies, I just assume they clear the one that says "this guy is authenticated", to "not authe…

That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.

What would help against modern browser fingerprinting technologies?

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#12

Post by vessenes »

_RPM wrote: post #5
vessenes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.

Be more specific, I know there are things like Canvas Fingerprinting. I'm not sure I can appreciate your claims without you citing specific examples.

Simplest way to see if you're fingerprintable is to go to https://panopticlick.eff.org/. I can't promise they are up to date, so if you get a 'Not fingerprintable' result, it may be incorrect.

But, if the EFF can fingerprint you, almost any website in the world can, or their ad network can.

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#13

Post by areyoucrazy »

ProAm wrote: post #7

We are slowly starting to see the influence of the 50 million in VC funding. Let's see if we can get any blood by squeezing the stone.

Great point. I'm getting really tired of escaping from these tracking predators. Chasing me down to serve me more corporate propaganda. Fuck 'em.

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#15

Post by dandelion_lover »

nsuser wrote: post #11
vessenes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.

What would help against modern browser fingerprinting technologies?

What about a disposable VM in Qubes OS?

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#16

Post by vessenes »

nsuser wrote: post #11
vessenes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.

What would help against modern browser fingerprinting technologies?

I'm not an expert, so there may be a better answer for this, but I choose to act online as if they are not defeatable.

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#17

Post by zacketysack3 »

vintageseltzer wrote: post #8
_RPM wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be more specific, I know there are things like Canvas Fingerprinting. I'm not sure I can appreciate your claims without you citing specific examples.

That's not the nicest way to ask for additional information, but see: https://panopticlick.eff.org/about#browser-fingerprinting > The site you are visiting may choose to analyze your browser using JavaScript, Flash and other methods (just like Panopticlick does). It may look for what types of fonts you have installed, the language you’ve set, the add-ons you’ve installed, and other factors. The site may then create a…

Browser fingerprinting is really scary, but AFAIK there are no major websites using it yet right?

It should be fairly easy to detect if something you Google in an different browser session suddenly turns up as an ad on Reddit after you've deleted cookies and cleared history. Also it seems unlikely that Reddit would implement something like this after considering the outcry over the possibility of the Facebook mobile app recording audio. Especially since Reddit has a large technical userbase who are aware of privacy concerns in fingerprinting technologies.

E: why is this being downvoted?

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#18

Post by insickness »

vessenes wrote: post #3

The update clearly says that they will be using some sort of tracking (likely cookies) for non-registered users and customizing content for them, as a trial. The poster worried publicly that this would mean too many stories about Hillary on the front page -- I read that to mean he's a conspiracy nut, and doesn't want Hillary to be in office in the US, and thinks reddit could be used to push her there with this techno…

That guy is 'a conspiracy nut.' Why would anyone think a social media site would push a political agenda? /s

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#19

Post by chinathrow »

nsuser wrote: post #11
vessenes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.

What would help against modern browser fingerprinting technologies?

Maybe Tor to some degree?

The design doc is full of references regarding fingerprinting and "fingerprinting anonymity/reduction" itself is mentioned explicitly within the adversaries chapter.

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/

Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out

#20

Post by [deleted] »

vessenes wrote: post #3

The update clearly says that they will be using some sort of tracking (likely cookies) for non-registered users and customizing content for them, as a trial. The poster worried publicly that this would mean too many stories about Hillary on the front page -- I read that to mean he's a conspiracy nut, and doesn't want Hillary to be in office in the US, and thinks reddit could be used to push her there with this techno…

[deleted]
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