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Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

theguardian.com

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Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#101

Post by ReverseCold »

sametmax wrote: post #78
lucb1e wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like my Linux user agent is nearly trackable across IP addresses, so few people I know run Linux with Firefox version whatever... but yeah same here: cookies are a non-issue for me. I use a different solution though: self-destructing cookies. Once you closed a tab for more than X seconds (I configured 90 seconds I think), it deletes all cookies (and localstorage etc.) from that domain.

There are add ons to change the user agent to something more generic. You can even randomize it but it breaks many more sites than I was expecting.

If by randomizing you mean random strings (and not from a list), then I think this is relevant:

https://xkcd.com/1105/

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#102

Post by sametmax »

ReverseCold wrote: post #101
sametmax wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are add ons to change the user agent to something more generic. You can even randomize it but it breaks many more sites than I was expecting.

If by randomizing you mean random strings (and not from a list), then I think this is relevant: https://xkcd.com/1105/

Randomly selected from a pool of known UA.

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#103

Post by JetSpiegel »

borne0 wrote: post #35

While on the topic of tracking, is there a plugin that lets you delete cookies using rules on a per domain basis? for example, cookies are useful for some sites, and others they are useful for certain periods of time, and thereafter it would be nice to get rid of them (and yet more sites shouldn't be able to leave cookies at all). I know there are some plugins that let you block all cookies, or manage them after the…

Self Destructing Cookies is basically this. You can whitelist domains to keep cookies.

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#104

Post by threecheese »

tagawa wrote: post #88

The article or the judge (not sure which) suggests using incognito mode. While this will keep browsing history private for a particular session, it's only effective locally. Tracking from the server is still possible either through being logged in or through browser fingerprinting, which is surprisingly accurate. Here's a good demo which uses fingerprinting to show how ineffective incognito mode is: http://www.nothin…

How does a user defend against this, without resorting to a nuclear option like Tor?

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#105

Post by j1f4 »

lucb1e wrote: post #52
m_eiman wrote: post #15

Firefox has a pretty neat feature I discovered recently: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Contextual_Identity_Projec... It lets you run multiple sessions in one window, where each tab belongs to a specific session with separated cookies and such. I've got a bunch of tabs where I'm logged in to Facebook, another set where I'm logged in to Google and the rest of them where I'm not logged in to either. Of course they c…

I feel like my Linux user agent is nearly trackable across IP addresses, so few people I know run Linux with Firefox version whatever... but yeah same here: cookies are a non-issue for me. I use a different solution though: self-destructing cookies. Once you closed a tab for more than X seconds (I configured 90 seconds I think), it deletes all cookies (and localstorage etc.) from that domain.

As a Firefox on Linux user I checked one of those sites that tries to estimate how many bits each public aspect of your setup reveals about you. It turned out available fonts was by far the most unique aspect of my setup.

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#107

Post by propogandist »

borne0 wrote: post #35

While on the topic of tracking, is there a plugin that lets you delete cookies using rules on a per domain basis? for example, cookies are useful for some sites, and others they are useful for certain periods of time, and thereafter it would be nice to get rid of them (and yet more sites shouldn't be able to leave cookies at all). I know there are some plugins that let you block all cookies, or manage them after the…

vanilla cookies in Chrome allows quick cookie clearing (one click) and you can customize rules to save specific cookies. Self Destructing Cookies on FF is fantastic also.

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#108

Post by gnicholas »

jacquesm wrote: post #44
hiq wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think so: I'm currently logged in on HN. When I open a new private window, I'm logged in as well. This is really annoying when you always use your web browser in private mode, but don't close it regularly. It means that e.g. youtube already builds a profile about me from my previous searches even though I'm not logged in. If I were that concerned I would close Firefox, but the usability issue is just too big…

> When I open a new private window, I'm logged in as well. Not in firefox, or, at least not for me.

It depends on whether all private windows have been closed. If you open a new private window when another is already open, you remain logged into sites. If you close all your private windows and then open another, it's a clean slate. (At least for me.)

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#109

Post by zimpenfish »

sametmax wrote: post #70
zimpenfish wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, the reason is "Because there are people on Facebook that I want to communicate with".

I don't know any people around me that have facebook that don't have another way to be reached. So there is something else that makes you stay.

There's a large number of people on Facebook that I interact with that I don't have email / sms / whatever for. There's also a non-negligible number that I'm happy interacting with on Facebook but not on anything more personal.

Re: Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says

#110

Post by propogandist »

threecheese wrote: post #104
tagawa wrote: post #88

The article or the judge (not sure which) suggests using incognito mode. While this will keep browsing history private for a particular session, it's only effective locally. Tracking from the server is still possible either through being logged in or through browser fingerprinting, which is surprisingly accurate. Here's a good demo which uses fingerprinting to show how ineffective incognito mode is: http://www.nothin…

How does a user defend against this, without resorting to a nuclear option like Tor?

html5 canvas blockers / browser fingerprinting blocker for the site linked

your browser is leaking a lot of data, from the plugins you have installed to the fonts & you need to take initiative to patch the holes

here's a website you may find useful: https://browserleaks.com/

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